Depression among infertile women in Gaza strip: Prevalence and correlates

Abstract Background Psychological disorders are expected for women suffering from infertility. Depression is a predictable consequence and requires more investigations and considerations. This study aimed to determine prevalence and severity of depression and its predictors among infertile women in Gaza strip, Palestine using a cross-sectional design. Methods A cross sectional study was carried out among three hundred eighty five infertile males from Jan 2019 to Dec 2019. Participants were selected from three main In-vitro fertilization centers (IVFs) following simple random sampling. The Arabic version of Beck depression inventory was used. Logistic regression was performed to determine independent factors associated with depression. The value 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant Results The mean age of participated women was 29 ± 6.58 years, and mean duration of marriage and infertility were 7.76 ± 5.31 and 5.43 ± 3.50 years, respectively. Half of women had some form of depression (22.3%, 8.6% and 10.6% showed to have mild depression, moderate and severe depression, respectively). Predictors of depression were: duration of marriage (Wald test: 10.493; CI95%: 0.248–0.774), at least one abortion (Wald test: 21.233, CI95%: 1.863–4.528), primary infertility (Wald test: 6.666, CI95%: 1.148–2.742) and husband cause of infertility (Wald test: 10.878, CI95%: 0.800–0.982). Conclusion Infertility has an effect on the psychological aspect of women' life. Psychological intervention including counselling, support and therapy would be necessary to limit consequences of infertility. Such interventions could be implemented in infertility treatment clinics.