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The impact of treatment experiences on the course of infertility distress in male patients.

Pook M, Krause W

Department of Psychology, University of Siegen, Germany. martin.pook@isb.bayern.de

BACKGROUND: Previous research on infertile males has delivered equivocal findings on the course of infertility distress in males. The present longitudinal study examines whether there are differentials associated with specific treatment experiences (i.e. duration of treatment, the diagnosis received, and treatment failure of assisted reproductive technologies). METHODS: The sample consisted of 118 patients who twice visited an andrology clinic on their own initiative for fertility work-ups. Baseline and follow-up examinations were > or = 6 months apart. Prior to each fertility work-up, patients completed a questionnaire assessing distress due to infertility. RESULTS: No uniform course of distress could be detected. A significant interaction between treatment experiences indicated that distress rises significantly only in those patients who were in treatment > or = 17 months and experienced treatment failure between the first and the second psychological evaluation. For the diagnosis of male infertility, however, neither a direct nor an indirect impact was identified. CONCLUSION: The present study indicates that the interaction of specific treatment experiences is associated with changes in distress of infertile males.

Published 18 February 2005 in Hum Reprod, 20(3): 825-8.
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