Prevalence of depression, associated factors and coping styles among women attending infertility clinic at Mulago Hospital Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Background; Infertility is a common problem that affects many couples worldwide. It is associated with a high prevalence of psychosocial problems including depression that may arise from insufficient support from the partner, community support, the type and duration of infertility as well as poor outcomes from prior infertility treatment. Various coping mechanisms are used to cope with the depression and infertility of which some have detrimental effects. There is paucity of information on prevalence of depression and coping styles among infertile women in sub-Saharan Africa and Uganda in particular. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression, associated factors and coping styles among women attending infertility clinic. Methods: A cross-section study design was used to recruit participants from the infertility clinic in Mulago National Referral Hospital over five months from October 2018 to March 2019. They completed a semi-structured questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)to determine the prevalence of depression and the brief cope inventory to determine the coping styles. The instruments were administered by the PI and research assistants. Data was entered into Epidata and analysed using STATA. We generated descriptive statistics as well as bivariate and multivariate outputs. Results: Three hundred seventy-seven women were recruited. The Prevalence of depression among the study participants was 44.30% with moderate and severe depression constituting 16.45% and 7.16%respectively. The factors associated with depression among the participants included history of miscarriage (p value ˂0.001), spouse’ physical assault (p value 0.016), sexual assault (p value ˂0.001), spouse’ threat of another wife (p value ˂0.001), verbal assault by other people (p value ˂0.001). Infertile women with depression used more of the negative coping styles while those without depression used more of the positive coping styles. Conclusion and Recommendation: The prevalence of depression is high among infertile women in Uganda. There is a need for integration of psychological assessment, linkage to appropriate care and counselling on appropriate coping styles.