Clinical, Psychological and Socio-Economic Profile of Women Consulting for Couple Infertility in the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Infertility is defined as the inability to achieve a pregnancy after at least 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Our main objective was to describe the clinical, psychological and socio-economic profile of women consulting for infertility in the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with prospective data collection at the Yaounde Gyneco Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital over a period of 7 months from 1st December 2021 to 31st June 2022. Results: We included 171 patients. The mean age was 32.3 ± 5.5 years. The mean duration of infertility was 4.0 ± 3.7 years. Primary and secondary Infertility made up 31.6% and 68.4% of cases respectively. Past medical history was significant for Abortions (50%), Chlamydia and Mycoplasma infections (43.8%), chronic pelvic pain (49.7%) and endouterine manipulations (33.3%) of cases. Majority of our patients were stressed (76.6%). The most represented stress score was severe stress (66.1%). 51% of our patients were mentally depressed and 35.6% were anxious. Majority of them (74.9%) had low socio-economic status. Conclusion: Couple infertility is most often secondary. It triggers the onset of psychological problems like stress, mental depression and anxiety. Most of our patients had a low socio-economic status.