Psychosocial problems of infertile people in Greece
Annals of General Psychiatry
BioMed Central
Open Access
Poster presentation
Psychosocial problems of infertile people in Greece
Maria Katsardi*1, Maria Mpekou Theodoratou1 and
Constantinos Koutsojannis2
Address: 1Department of Social Working ATEI of Patras, Greece and 2School of Health Sciencies ATEI of Patras, Greece
* Corresponding author
from International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 2nd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour
Thessaloniki, Greece. 17–20 November 2005
Published: 28 February 2006
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Annals of General Psychiatry 2006, 5(Suppl 1):S219
doi:10.1186/1744-859X-5-S1-S219
Background
Infertility is a growing social problem, because the population affected by the experience of infertility has
increased dramatically in recent decades and is expected
to continue to increase. Despite this growing need, the
phenomenon of infertility has been largely overlooked by
the social work profession. The contemporary understanding of infertility is too narrow. In the twentieth century, infertility has come to be defined almost exclusively
as a medical condition. The psychological and social
needs are not adequately addressed within the framework
of such a medical model.
Materials and methods
This study was exploratory in nature and quantitative by
design. Sixty individuals (43 women and 17 men), with
history of infertility (diagnosed 1–5 years ago) of mean
age of 34 years (34 ± 5), married, well educated, with no
children at all, were participated in this study, that took
place mainly in the three major Greek cities (Athens, Thessalonica and Patras) during June and August of 2005,
answered 20 multiple choice questions included in the
questionnaire, which was administrated. Data were collected and analyzed through SPSS statistical software and
for correlation analysis Chi-square test was used.
experience in psychology (70%), as well as for social intervention abilities in other systems as friends, and colleagues (70%) to help them.
Discussion
Infertility is not a new problem. However, as the number
of people impacted by infertility grows and the complexity of the problem due to medical intervention continues
to increase, social work must become more actively
involved in addressing the problem of infertility by
addressing the policy, research, and direct and indirect
practice needs. This pilot study is an attempt to highlight
the need for additional research in the field of infertility.
Furthermore studying men and women as individuals and
as part of couples, considering that infertility impacts
more than the infertile system, diversity should also
include other systems that are impacted such as extended
families, friends, and colleagues.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
Valentine DP: Psychological impact of infertility: Identifying
issues and needs. Social Work in Health Care 1986, 11:61-69.
Trounson A, Gardner D: Handbook of In Vitro Fertilization CRC Press;
2000.
Bliss C: The Social Construction of Infertility by Minority
Women. Doctoral Dissertation 1999.
Hammer Burns L, Covington SN: MSW, Infertility and Counseling 2002.
Results
Describing and quantifying the experience of infertility
among a previously unstudied population is descriptive
for mean infertile individual in Greece today. According
to our results severe (generally covered with silence) psychosocial problems impact the everyday life mostly the
woman (74%) of an infertile couple that include feeling
of stress (35%), angry (20%) and guilty for the infertility
(73%), that use cooping strategies with indirect effects
(73%) and ask for health care professionals (79%), with
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