Hope and fertility related quality of life among women undergoing assisted reproductive techniques: possible mediating role of anxiety and depression.
Saeedeh Lotfinikoo (IR), Reza Omani Samani (IR)
[Lotfinikoo] Islamic Azad University, Semnan Branch, [Omani Samani] Department of Epidemiology and Reproductive Health, Reproductive Epidemiology Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Infertility is considered as a crisis in the life and infertile couples are under psycho social pressure. It has been reported that quality of life among infertile women is lower than fertile ones. Studies have found that high levels of hope are related to increased positive mood, better physical health, enhanced ability to cope with illness, and higher tolerance of pain. Both the agency and pathways components have been found to be negatively cor- related with depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible correlation between hope and quality of life in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 350 infertile women were recruited by convenient sampling who were referred to the Royan institute for the first time and had no history of ART failure. This study was approved in ethical committee of Royan Institute. The quality of life was checked by Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQol) with 34 items, hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and Snyder Hope Scale for hope were administered. Data analysis includes Baron and Kenny’s mediation analysis. Results: It was predicted that infertile women with higher score of hope have lower anxiety and depression and this, in turn, results in better quality of life. The results supported this prediction, and also showed that anxiety and depression partially mediated the relationship between hope and FertiQoL. The regression coefficient for hope decreased from 1.60 (P-value<0.001) to 0.50 (P-value=0.01) when anxiety and depression as the mediating variables were entered into the equation predicting FertiQoL. Conclusion: Hope was effective in quality of life and we could find a mediating role for anxiety and depression in this correlation. Key words: quality of life, Hope, Infertility, anxiety, depression, infertile women.