Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Assessment of Questionnaires Measuring Quality of Life in Infertile Couples: A Systematic Review

Authors
Seyyed Abbas Mousavi 1
Seyyedeh Zahra Masoumi 2
Afsaneh Keramat 3
Jalal Pooralajal 4
Fatemeh Shobeiri 5
1 Golestan Research Center of Psychiatry, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
2 Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
3 Center for Health-Related Social and Behavioral Sciences Research, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
4 Research Center for Modeling of No Communicable Diseases, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
5 Mother and Child Care Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
Abstract
Background: Infertility has potentially inappropriate effects on quality of life in infertile couples. Various general and specific questionnaires have been structured for assessing different aspects of quality of life in infertile men, women, or couples. The present systematic review was designed to assess these questionnaires and also identify different factors affecting infertile couples based on the aforesaid questionnaires. Methods: The research strategy involved general and specific terms in relation to couples’s infertility and their quality of life. A review was done for studies published from 1982 to 2012 that were indexed in Medline, ISI Web of Science and Scopus as well as abstract books on this subject. We also corresponded with the authors of the references in related studies for introducing more resources and references. Results: In all reviewed studies, different aspects of the quality of life in couples were evaluated including sexual, psychological, social, communicational, environmental, occupational, medical, as well as economical ones. In total, after initial screening of all studies, 10 general and 2 specific questionnaires were retrieved. Although no meta-analysis was found in the review, infertility had a negative effect on quality of life in couples. Conclusion: This study revealed that some general questionnaires such as SF-36 and WHO-QOL were mostly used for assessing quality of life in infertile couples and some specific questionnaires such as FERTI-QoL and Fertility Problem Inventory were rarely used. Thus, it seems that the evaluation of quality of life in infertile couples needs valid instruments for measurement.
Keywords
Assessment
Couples
Infertility
Quality of Life
Questionnaire
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Journal of Reproduction & Infertility
Volume 14, Issue 3
Summer 2013
Pages 110-119