Quality of life of Iranian married women: a comparative study of fertile and infertile women using a Health, Wellness and Quality of Life Questionnaire

The treatment of infertility and the quality of life in women is now considered equally important. The aim of the study was to determine the quality of life (QoL) of married women aged 20-45 years and to compare QoL domain in fertile and infertile women.
In a community based study, the Wellness and Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL) was used to assess the QoL of married women. A total of 1,140 women with the age range of 20-45 were selected using standard cluster sampling technique in Babol, Iran. Among those women who attempted conception, 168 of the women experienced difficulty conceiving at some stage in their lives. Then, the QoL of the women who had experienced infertility were compared with those of other fertile women. The questionnaire containing 55 items comprised five domains: physical state, mental/emotional state, stress evaluation, life enjoyment, and overall quality of life. Lower scores in three domains: physical state, mental/emotional state, and stress evaluation mean better QoL. Higher scores in life enjoyment and overall quality of life mean better QoL.
The means of the QoL of married women in physical status, mental/emotional state, stress evaluation, life enjoyment, and overall QoL were 19.0±5.3, 20.0±6.8, 23.4±7.8, 32.6±5.3, and 61.5±10.1, respectively. There was no significant relationship in the mean scores in the five domains of QoL between the fertile and infertile groups. Logistic regression also indicated that infertility was associated with higher (worse) scores in the mental/emotional state domain (p=0.018), and fertility was associated with higher scores (better) in overall score QoL (p=0.003).
The results can be regarded as useful findings to make more efficient interventions for infertile women.