How common are moderate to severe depressive symptoms among women attending an infertility clinic in Egypt?

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Infertility can have a substantial impact on a couple’s psychological wellbeing and subsequently affect their marital relationship and quality of life. This study aimed to screen women attending an infertility clinic in Egypt for depression and examine how depression severity related to infertility duration and other sociodemographic characteristics.

This cross-sectional descriptive study took place from June 2014 to December 2014 at the infertility clinic in Kasr Al-Ainy hospital. Researchers screened 300 women with infertility using the Arabic version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

On the PHQ-9, 62.3% of the women screened in the moderate-to-severe depression range. PHQ-9 scores were negatively correlated with duration of marriage (correlation coefficient = -0.12; P = 0.038) and duration of infertility (correlation coefficient = -0.13; P = 0.025). Scores were positively correlated with age (correlation coefficient = 0.124; P = 0.032), educational level (correlation coefficient = 0.312; P = 0.000, as reported), and the number of assisted reproductive technique attempts (correlation coefficient = 0.189; P = 0.001). All of these associations were reported as statistically significant.

The authors concluded that a large proportion of Egyptian women with infertility experience depression. They highlighted the need to provide individualized biopsychosocial care for all Egyptian women with infertility.