Clinico-demographic Indicators of Depression among Infertile Women in a Tertiary Health Institution in Awka, South East Nigeria

Background: Infertility is a phenomenon which influences all lifestyle aspects of a couple and has cultural, social, legal and especially psychological consequences. Depression is a common consequence of infertility and its impact can be devastating to the infertile persons and to their partners.
Aim: To determine the prevalence of depression and its indicators among infertile women in Awka, Southeast Nigeria.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey on consecutive attendees at the Fertility Clinic of Anambra State University Teaching Hospital, Awka, southeast, Nigeria, over a three month period. Data on socio-demographic variables were extracted using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Depression was assessed using the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS 10 (SPSS Inc, Chicago IL) was used for analysis. A value of P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Of the 96(100%) respondents, 37(38.5%) had depressive disorder while 59(61.5%) were normal (P=0.001). Thirty (21.3%) respondents had primary infertility while 66(68.7%) had secondary infertility. Of those with primary infertility 22(77.3%) had depression compared to 15(22.7%) with secondary infertility (P=0.001). Depression was also significantly associated with duration of infertility (P=0.001), verbal abuse (P=0.001), willingness to adopt (p=0.009) and increasing maternal age (p=0.001).
The associations between husband being supportive (P=0.140), social status (P=0.652), family setting (P=0.106), place of residence (P=0.134), employment (0.652), educational level (P=0.444) and depression were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The prevalence of depression among infertile women in Awka is significant. This should be taken into account in the treatment of infertile women in view of the adverse effects of depression in the aetiology and outcome of management of the infertile women.