Infertility & Psychiatric Disorders

Infertile couples are at increased risk of psychiatric disorders, with many already having developed such disorders at the time of their first contact with specialized fertility services, research indicates.

Arianna Goracci (University of Siena School of Medicine, Italy) and colleagues assessed the presence of Axis I psychiatric disorders in 81 infertile couples before fertility treatment and 70 fertile couples.

Current psychiatric disorders were significantly more likely among infertile than fertile couples, in particular adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (16 vs 2 percent) and binge eating disorder (8 vs 0 percent).

Each of these disorders occurred more frequently in infertile women than in infertile men.

The researchers also note that adjustment disorders with mixed anxiety and depressed mood tended to be more common in women with "functional," anatomic, and endocrine infertility than among women with infertile male partners. Binge eating disorder was more common among women with "functional" infertility and endocrine infertility than among women with anatomic infertility or infertile partners.

Infertility in men was associated with subclinical obsessive-compulsive disorder and subclinical social phobia.

Psychiatric comorbidity was positively associated with length of infertility, with patients who had experienced reproductive problems for 2 or more years more likely to be diagnosed with adjustment disorder and depression than other patients.

The researchers recommend that "gynecologists screen for clinical or subclinical psychiatric disorders in infertility patients and offer treatment accordingly."