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Background: Noticing the significant role of fertility in Iranian families, the incidence of infertility and its social and cultural dimensions, this study was carried out to compare general health status of infertile women with fertile women. Materials and Methods: This observational case-control study was done on 147 women as the control group and 147 infertile patients as the case group who were matched in terms of influential variables. Data collection was done through demographic questionnaire and general health questionnaire (GHQ) which were completed by both groups. The results were analyzed by logistic regression analysis, t test, and chi-square using STATA 10 software. Results: Means of general health score in fertile and infertile women were 19.249.72 and 28.06 10, respectively. Here the mean score of the infertile women was significantly higher in comparison with the fertile women (p<0.001). Physical symptoms, anxiety, social interaction, and depression scores of infertile women were significantly higher in comparison with the fertile women (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the means of age and duration of marriage between the two groups and the distribution of educational level, occupation, and income levels were the same in the two groups. Conclusion: Average scores of general health and physical complaints, anxiety, impaired social interaction, and depression in infertile women were higher than those in fertile women. This indicates their involvement with some degrees of public health diseases.

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Background and Aim: In Iran, one quarter of couples experience infertility, which can affect various aspects of their marital life. The aim of this study was to compare psychological characteristics in fertile and infertile women referring to health centers and an infertility center in Qom. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 160 women. of all, 80 women were selected via simple random sampling method and were among those in reproductive age who referred to health centers to receive routine childcare services. The other 80 women were selected via simple random sampling method among infertile women who referred to the infertility center. The required data were collected using standard anxiety, depression, and marital adjustment questionnaires. Data were entered into SPSS V.20 software and were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test and Chi-square. Findings: There were a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean scores of depression (p=0.005), anxiety (p=0.02), and marital adjustment (p=0.01), as the mean score of depression and anxiety was higher in fertile women than in infertile women. However, the mean score of marital adjustment was higher in infertile women than in fertile women. Conclusion: Since fertility can be dependent on psychological factors and other underlying factors of an individual, therefore, it is necessary to consider the educational needs of fertile and infertile women.

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Background: Today, infertility is a major concern for public health and one of the most important crises in life, which leads to many psychological problems. Since cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes empowering and educating the patient to solve problems, this study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on marital self-regulation and uncertainty intolerance in infertile women.

Methods:  This clinical trial study was performed on 30 infertile women referring to the infertility center of Sari city in two groups of case and control (15 patients in each group). Cognitive-behavioral therapy was performed in 12 sessions of 45 minutes, once a week for the experimental group, while the control group received the routine treatment. After the follow-up period, the control group also underwent psychotherapy. Both groups completed the questionnaires of marital self-regulation by Wilson et al. (2005) and uncertainty intolerance by Friston et al. (1994) in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up (45 days after the post-test) and were compared.

Finding: The results showed that in the two subscales of marital self-regulation in the experimental group, the average scores in the three stages of pre-test, post-test and follow-up respectively for the subscale of communication self-regulation (24.266 ± 6.273), (41.000 ± 3.207) and (35.266 ± 3.899) there was a significant increase in the post-test and follow-up compared to the pre-test stage(P<0.05). And the sub-scale of communication effort(19.333 ± 5.094), (8.666 ± 1.914) and (12.000 ± 2.449), and intolerance of uncertainty 92.600 ± 9.302), (67.400 ± 7.585) and (75.200 ± 10.975), had a significant decrease in the post-test and follow-up compared to the pre-test stage (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The results of the study showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy can be an effective intervention in improving marital self-regulation and reducing intolerance of uncertainty in infertile women.