Sexual dysfunction and depression among Turkish women with infertile husbands: the invisible part of the iceberg.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of male infertility on the sexual functions and level of depression among Turkish women. METHODS: Fifty-six women with an infertile partner (exposed) and 48 women who conceived and gave birth without treatment (unexposed) were included in this study. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used to determine sexual function and depression status. Statistical analyses were performed by independent samples t, Fischer's exact, and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in terms of demographic characteristics between groups except that unexposed women had received education for longer period of time (11.6 vs. 7.1 years, p = 0.001). Mean FSFI scores were 19.1 ± 5.5 for the exposed and 20.0 ± 3.4 for the unexposed group. The scores of sexual desire domain (3.4 ± 1.2 vs. 2.7 ± 1.2, p < 0.05), sexual dysfunction in the axis of lubrication (3.6 ± 1.4 vs. 4.0 ± 0.2, p = 0.039), and pain (4.1 ± 1.9 vs. 5.4 ± 0.8, p = 0.001) were found to be significantly higher in women with an infertile partner. According to BDI scores, these women were feeling more depressed (9.7 ± 7.3 vs. 1.4 ± 2.8, p = 0.001) than the unexposed group. CONCLUSION: Comparison of these groups indicated similar levels of sexual dysfunction. Nonetheless, we found that women with infertile partners experienced sexual problems related to lubrication and pain, even though they were in the initial stages of the treatment process for infertility. Exposed group had also higher level of depression than the unexposed group.

Depression and Sexual Dysfunction in Turkish Men Diagnosed With Infertility.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of infertility on sexual functions and depression levels of Turkish men. METHODS: A total of 56 infertile men undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy and 48 fertile men, as the control group, were included in this prospective longitudinal study. The study data were collected using the International Index of Erectile Function 5 and 15 (IIEF-5 and IIEF-15), and the depression status of the interfile and control group participants was evaluated using Beck Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 13.0) by chi-square and the Student t tests for statistical evaluations. RESULTS: Mild-to-moderate erectile dysfunction was detected in 85.9% of the patients in the infertile group and in all the control group participants according to IIEF-5 form, but this difference was not statistically significant. When the subparameters of erectile dysfunction were evaluated via IIEF-15, the infertile group's scores were observed to be significantly lower than those of the control group's in orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction, and overall satisfaction domains. Based on Beck Depression Inventory, the current depression status of the infertile group was significantly worse than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: In this study, we determined that among Turkish men, being infertile did not cause significant impairment in erectile functions compared to the control group; however, it negatively affected subparameters of sexual functioning and we also determined that men who had infertility were feeling more depressed than the controls.