The Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety and Its Association With Quality of Life Among Couples Attending Infertility Clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Background: For millions of couples globally, infertility is a significant challenge and is ranked as the 5th global disability in the world. It is related to significant distress and psychological disturbances which may manifest as symptoms related to depression and anxiety thus reducing the quality of life in an individual. The burden of mental health disorders among infertile couples remains a neglected priority, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, data relating to the prevalence of depression and anxiety in infertile couples is limited. Overall objective: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of depression and anxiety and its association with quality of life among couples attending the infertility clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital. Methodology: This study employed a cross-sectional design, utilizing consecutive sampling to recruit 42 infertile couples who attended the infertility clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital during the study period. A researcher designed socio-demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of participants. Becks Depression Inventory-II and Becks Anxiety Inventory was used to measure the severity of depression and anxiety. World Health Organization quality of life Questionnaire was used to measure the quality of life of the participants. Data entry was done using IBM SPSS statistics version 25, and analysis performed in STATA v.17. Categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and proportions. Continuous variables were summarized as means and standard deviations. T- test was used to determine depression levels between males and females and the anxiety levels between males and females. Pairwise correlation was used to test the relationship between quality of life, anxiety and depression. Multivariate Linear Regression was used to assess the association between dependent and independent variables while controlling for other factors. The study findings were presented using figures, tables, graphs and narratives. All the test results were deemed statistically significant if p- value is less than 0.05. Results: This study revealed a prevalence of 42% for depression (higher in females) and 31% prevalence of anxiety (higher in females). Majority of the participants rated their quality of life as average (35%) and 23% rated their quality of life as poor, with females scoring lower in all domains. Negative correlations were observed between depression and quality of life (r = -0.8549) and anxiety and quality of life (r = -0.8218), while a positive correlation was found between depression and anxiety (r = 0.7987). Conclusion and recommendations: This study showed a significant prevalence of depression and anxiety among individuals facing infertility, highlighting notable gender disparities, with women experiencing higher levels compared to men. Additionally, this study revealed a negative impact on quality of life, particularly affecting women and individuals in rural areas. Elevated anxiety and depression levels were associated with a diminished perceived quality of life. It is therefore of utmost importance that individuals attending infertility clinic are offered timely screening and management of these disorders by health care providers, in order to improve the overall well-being of couples navigating the challenges of infertility