title: Quality of life of infertile Tunisian couples and differences according to gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare quality-of-life gender differences within infertile couples from Tunisia and between infertile couples and controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present case-control study included 100 couples with primary infertility who, during 2009, underwent assisted reproductive technology at Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse, Tunisia, and 100 control couples. The 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was administered to assess quality of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with male controls, men in the infertility group had lower scores in the mental dimension (P=0.020), social functioning (P=0.007), and role-emotional (P<0.001) categories of the SF-36. Women in the infertility group had lower mental and physical dimension scores (P<0.001) and lower vitality (P=0.022), social functioning (P<0.001), role-emotional (P<0.001), and mental health (P<0.001) scores than female controls. Within infertile couples, female partners had lower total (P=0.01) and mental dimension (P<0.001) scores than their spouses. Delay of the first consultation was correlated with bodily pain, vitality, and mental health among women in the infertility group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women in infertile couples had a lower quality of life than their spouses, and infertile couples had a lower quality of life than controls. These findings confirm the need for psychological support for infertile couples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia. Electronic address: yousri.elkissi@rns.tn.
authors.forename: Yousri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: El Kissi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Badii
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Amamou
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hidar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Khadija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ayoubi Idrissi
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Hedi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khairi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Bechir Ben Hadj
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014416:Tunisia
keywords: Assisted reproduction technology; Gender; Infertility; Quality of life; SF-36