Quality of life in Indian women with fertility problems as assessed by the FertiQoL questionnaire: a single center cross sectional study

Abstract

Purpose: Infertility and its treatment can significantly impact an individual's physical and psychological health; however, this has not been well-studied in the Indian population. This study aimed to assess the quality of life in women with infertility at a teaching hospital in Hyderabad, India.

Methods: In this cross sectional study of women with infertility, the quality of life was measured using the ‘FertiQoL International’ questionnaire (English/Hindi).

Results: The age ranged from 20 to 38 years and polycystic ovary syndrome was the most common cause of infertility. Core FertiQoL scores were analyzed in 215 women and Treatment FertiQoL in 156. The mean Total FertiQoL score in the study population was 66.1 (SD 13.0) and this overall score was not influenced by socio-demographic or infertility-specific factors. However, on subscale analysis, women who had living children and were university-educated had significantly better emotional scores while obese (≥35 kg/m²) women and those on ovulation induction treatment had poorer mind body and relational scores, respectively. Women with associated co-morbidities had worse quality of life on the Treatment Environment scale than those without.

Conclusions: The results provide a baseline quality of life score in these women. Infertility had the greatest impact on the emotional domain.

Keywords:

• FertiQoL
• India
• infertility
• quality of life
• questionnaire

Acknowledgements

FertiQoL was developed by Jacky Boivin, Janet Takefman and Andrea Braverman with sponsorship from ESHRE, ASRM and Merck-Serono S.A.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Current knowledge on the subject

• Infertility and its treatment negatively impact quality of life.

• The FertiQoL questionnaire is a reliable instrument to measure quality of life in persons experiencing fertility problems.

• There is considerable variation in FertiQoL scores across different ethnic groups.

What this study adds

• The results of this study provide a baseline quality of life score in infertile women at a tertiary care institute in south India.

• Notable differences exist with regard to FertiQoL scores and factors affecting the scores between different regions of the Indian subcontinent.