IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 20, Issue 4 Ser.10 (April. 2021), PP 07-13 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-2004100713 www.iosrjournal.org 7 | Page Identifying Depression and Anxiety in Infertile Females Dr. Keerat Kaur PG resident, Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur Dr. Manju Bhaskar Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur Dr. Rujul Modi PG resident, Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur. Abstract Background: Infertility is a major life crisis which can lead to the development of psychiatric symptoms and negative effects on the quality of life of affected females, but the magnitude of the effects may vary depending on cultural expectations. Aim: To assess the sociodemographic variables and measures of depression and anxiety as predictors of psychiatric morbidity in infertile women compared to controls. Materials & Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in Dept. Of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur. The sample comprised of 30 infertile females (Group I) attending OPD of Dept. of Reproductive Medicine, MGH and fulfilling the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. 30 healthy females with similar socio-demographic profile (preferably the relatives of the infertile women) were recruited as control group. Prior to the participation in the study, a full informed written consent was taken from the participants. All study participants were evaluated with a socio-demographic performa, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Results: In our study, there was no significant differences when the socio-demographic parameters of both the groups were compared in terms of age, domicile, duration of marriage, education level, religion and type of family. Statistically high significant differences were observed on the mean scores of HAM-D and HAM-A between the two groups, suggesting higher depression and anxiety levels in infertile females. Also, the percentage of psychiatric morbidity in terms of severity as assessed by the cut-off scores of HAM-D and HAM-A was observed to be significantly higher in the infertile women as compared to controls. Conclusion: The study concludes that infertile females, due to any given cause or whether or not undergoing treatment tend to have significantly higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders than fertile women. And this aspect has been under-evaluated and under-reported which has now become a major life-crisis and needs to be assessed in future studies as well. Psychological support and early psychiatric treatment in case of severe mental issues could lead to an improvement in the health and the quality of life of infertile couples and could potentially improve infertility treatment outcomes. Keywords: Infertility, Depression, Anxiety, Psychiatric morbidity --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 14-04-2021 Date of Acceptance: 28-04-2021 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Infertility, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘‘a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. 1 WHO estimates that 60 to 80 million couples worldwide currently suffer from infertility. 2 Infertility varies across regions of the world and is estimated to affect 8 to 12 per cent of couples worldwide. 3,4 The WHO estimates the overall prevalence of primary infertility in India to be between 3.9 and 16.8 per cent. 2 The prevalence of primary infertility in India varies across states and also has been shown to vary across tribes and castes within the same region in India. However, it should be noted that many of these estimates use different definitions of infertility and consider different time periods, which makes direct comparisons difficult between any studies. 5 Total infertility is divided into primary and secondary infertility. Definitions of primary infertility vary between studies, but the operational definition, put forth by the WHO, defines primary infertility as the “Inability to conceive within two years of exposure to pregnancy ( i.e.- sexually active, non-contracepting, and