Comparing the Prevalence of Infertility in Urban and Rural Areas in Babol

Background and Infertility is a major socio-medical challenge in Iran especially in rural areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of infertility and related factors in rural and urban areas.
In 2012, a cross-sectional descriptive study was performed in Babol. The samples (546 urban women and 535 rural women) were selected by cluster sampling aged 20-40 yeras. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data.
Urban subjects included 50.5% of the subjects. According to self-reports the prevalence of infertility was 15.5% in investigated population. The prevalence of infertility rates in rural and urban areas were 15% and 16.1%, respectively. Significant associations were observed between age at marriage, occupation, and educational level and being resident in city or village (P This study showed that a high number of women have experienced infertility at some point in their lives. Also, the prevalence of infertility was found to be high among women living in urban areas.