Investigating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Its Related Factors in Infertile Women

Background and Infertility is one of the most commonly diagnosed disease in women that is associated with physical, psychological, and social problems. A major problem that such women are faced with is on their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Despite extensive studies on the satisfaction and sexual function of infertile couples, there is no studies that investigates SRH issues. The current study aimed at investigating SRH and its related factors among women.
A cross sectional study was conducted and 400 women attending two infertility centers in Sari, Iran, were recruited using convenience sampling (2016-2017). Inclusion criteria included women > 18 years of age with infertility (primary or secondary) with any cause. The Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs Assessment Questionnaire was administered. The participants recorded their stress scores (0-5). Descriptive statistics were reported and logistic regression was used to evaluate the factors related to SRH.
The SRH was found to be inappropriate in 250 (62.5%) women. According to multivariate regression analysis, inappropriate decision making in self health care (AOR=1.75, 95% CI (1.06-2.9)), high stress level (AOR=1.39, 95%, CI (1.14-1.7)), old age at marriage (AOR=0.94, 95% CI (0.9-0.99)), and secondary infertility (AOR=4.5, 95% CI (2.6-7.9)) were associated with SRH.
Factors such as the person making decision about health care, the level of stress, and age at marriage were found to be the variables which could improve SRH in infertile women by appropriate planning and preventive measures.