RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TREATMENT OUTCOME IN FEMALE-PATIENTS FROM AN INFERTILITY CLINIC

The paper summarizes results from a prospective study regarding psychological characteristics of females undergoing infertility treatment. For 91-patients out of an initial sample of 191 women, it was possible to determine whether the patients had achieved pregnancy (n = 52) or not (n = 39) after an average of 28 months. The remaining patients either had stopped treatment or were lost to study. Sixty of these 91 patients (37 of them pregnant) were reinvestigated psychologically with respect to anxiety, coping styles, physical complaints and sexual behavior. Group comparisons using single variables did not reveal differences between the women who had become pregnant and those who had not. In contrast, comparisons of groups identified via multivariate cluster analysis yielded a significant association between treatment outcome and psychological characteristics of patients obtained during their initial contact with the infertility clinic. This association indicates a diminished likelihood for patients with psychological impairment to achieve pregnancy. Interestingly, there was no significant relationship to be found between treatment success and medical causes of infertility as well as the kind of infertility treatment. The results of the psychological follow up mainly indicate a reduction of active coping and a decrease of sexual activities. Studies focusing on the prognostic quality of psychological features in infertility treatment are discussed as a promising approach to the psychosomatics of fertility disorders.