Assessing the quality of life of infertile Chinese women: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Objective To assess QoL of infertile Chinese women and determine the specific factors adversely affecting QoL for improving the care and treatment compliance of infertile women. Materials and methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on a randomized, demographically matched, controlled population of infertile married Chinese women to determine their demographic, menstrual, family stress, and infertility characteristics and then applied the World Health Organization QoL Instrument (WHOQOL-100) to determine which factors would be associated with significant QoL differences between infertile women and their demographically matched fertile controls. Results Infertile women showed lower QoL scores in the facets of spirituality/religion/personal beliefs, self-esteem, financial resources, and accessibility to and quality of health and social care, as well as increased pain and discomfort, while also experiencing positive QoL adjustments in terms of mobility, daily living activities, work capacity, sexual activity, freedom, physical safety, security, and transport. Conclusion Married infertile Chinese women had significantly lower overall and comprehensive QoL scores, as well as higher anxiety scores, compared with fertile controls.