PhD Scientific Days 2025

Mental Health Sciences II.

Are you sure everything is as it seems? – coping with the obstacles of male infertility through the lens of concerned patients

Name of the presenter

Juhász Anna

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Semmelweis University, Department of Urology, Andrology Center

Authors

Anna Juhász¹, Balázs Matuszka², Zsolt Kopa³

1: Semmelweis University, Department of Urology, Andrology Centre, Istenhegyi Géndiagnosztikai Centrum
2: Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Psychology Institue
3: Semmelweis University, Department of Urology, Andrology Centre

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Infertility affects every 6th couple worldwide; in more than 50 % of these cases, the male factor is present. The prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms among men living with difficult childbearing can be 9-10 times higher compared to the normal population. However, there are mostly descriptive psychological studies related to male infertility, and little is known about the mechanisms underlying psychological symptoms. Aims: The aim of our ongoing, psychological studies is (1) exploring the lived experience of male infertility, and (2) developing a psychological screening tool that can be efficiently applied in practice. Methods: 40 patients were invited to the qualitative study, however we recorded in-depth interviews with 24 participants with the most severe male fertility problem (non-obstructive azoospermia) at the Andrology Centre of Semmelweis University. We did content analysis on the corpuses. Furthermore, out of 37 invited patients 33 completed questionnaires about emotional-affective symptoms (e.g. depressive, anxious and stress symptoms), hopelessness, self-esteem, marital relationship satisfaction and fertility-related quality of life. Results: Based on the interviews with patients who cope with non-obstructive azoospermia the major themes of the lived experience of this disease are ’Facing the diagnosis of non-obstructive azoospermia’, ’Coping with the challenges of difficult childbearing’, and ’Resources from relationship’. Regarding a quantitative analysis, the scores of the emotional-affective-, hopelessness-, self-esteem-, marital relationship satisfaction scales and the subscales of fertility-related quality of life are normal or better than that compared to the average population. The participants’ emotional-affective state seems to be slightly affected by the diagnosis of non-obstructive azoospermia. On the contrary, the content of interviews suggest that the psychological reactions of infertile men can be better understood by measuring the variable at different time points due to the common occurrence of maladaptive coping strategies. Also, in order to implement the most effective psychological interventions in everyday clinical practice, the emotional processing skills and procedures of unintended childless men should be more thoroughly understood.