Psychological domain of quality of life, depression and anxiety levels in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles of women with endometriosis: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the psychological domain of quality of life (PDQoL), anxiety and depression levels of infertile women with endometriosis versus non endometriosis who applied for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).

METHOD

This prospective case-control study compromised a total of 105 women who applied for IVF/ICSI program. Ninety-three women were divided into two groups as endometriosis (n = 37) and non-endometriosis (n = 56) after 12 patients who refused to participate in the study were excluded. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventory scales were used to determine the psychological stress levels.

RESULTS

A significant difference was found between the endometriosis and non-endometriosis groups regarding depression scores, while no significant difference was reported with respect to PDQoL and anxiety (p < 0.01, p = 0.897 and p = 0.058, respectively). A weak but significant correlation was observed between depression and endometriosis (CC: 0.435, p < 0.01). Though anxiety scores were found to be higher in endometriosis group this can not reach statistical significance (p = 0.058). Impact of PDQoL, depression and anxiety scores on pregnancy outcomes were found to be insignificant.

CONCLUSION

Women with endometriosis seem to be more susceptible to depression and anxiety than women without endometriosis. Although infertility treatment outcomes are not found to be significantly affected, the impact of depression and anxiety over ART treatment success merit further research.