Male Infertility and Psychological Repercussions: Α Neglected Problem in Northern Upper Egypt
Research Abstract
Background: Infertility, although not a life-threatening illness, is a life crisis that leads to medical, psychological, social and ethical issues. Male infertility is a neglected area of research, particularly, in Upper Egypt. Most of the studies carried out on this issue, mainly, focused on the etiological factors associated with infertility. The vast majority of researcher studied infertility as a causative or result of psychological aspects but little study psychological aspects as reactive or effect of infertility. Aim: This study shed some light on the extent of psychological repercussions, which was negatively impacted on through the male infertility experience, in Northern Upper Egypt. Method: Α descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 50 infertile men in governmental hospitals in Fayoum, Egypt. Α structured questionnaire comprises 2 parts was used: (1) socio-demographic characteristics, participants‟ lifestyle, and sexual behavior & infertility history, (2) Depression-Anxiety-Stress-Scale-42 (DΑЅЅ 42). Results: The results of the present study portrayed that 42% of the studied subjects were having a sever level of depression. However, 36.0% had a moderate level of anxiety. Moreover, 46.0% of the subject had severe tension. To sum up, infertility has many implications for the psychological state of infertile men. Men's psychosocial status was influenced by the type and duration of infertility treatment. Conclusion: Concluding we will have to admit that Upper Egyptian men appear to develop psychological distress when facing infertility and that this is a construct overly influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and sexual pattern supported by our research results. Recommendations: Our findings reinforce the need for andrologist, gynecologist, and infertility specialist and health care sectors as well as psychological professionals to look for psychosocial issues in men undergoing infertility treatment. Further research is needed to understand the association between psychosocial issues and fertility outcomes, as well as effective psychosocial interventions.
Research Keywords
mаle infertility, psychological repercussions, psychological aspects, depression, anxiety, tension