Men's participation in psychologic counseling services offered during in vitro fertilization treatments

作者：Furman Irene; Parra Leslie; Fuentes Ariel; Devoto Luigi^*

来源：Fertility and Sterility, 2010, 94(4): 1460-1464.

DOI：10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.06.043

• Psychologic counseling
• IVF
• infertile men
• low income
• public sector

Objective: To assess frequency of male participation in psychologic support services during IVF treatments.
Design: Retrospective descriptive study.
Setting: University infertility clinic.
Patient(s): A total of 284 low-income men receiving government-financed IVF.
Intervention(s): Group counseling during treatment.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Frequency of attendance to group counseling and perception of usefulness of the service.
Result(s): One-half of the subjects enrolled in the counseling groups. There were no differences in clinical and demographic characteristics between attendants and nonattendants. Attendance was classified into three levels: occasional, intermediate, and consistent. Seventy-four percent of attendants fell into latter two categories. Significant differences were observed in frequency of attendance as a function of infertility etiology. Frequent attendants diagnosed with male factor-only infertility were double the number of participants with female infertility. Over 90% of attendants reported the support groups as "highly useful'' and recommended that future patients participate. Emotional disclosure, decreased social isolation, and increased marital closeness were main benefits of the group interventions.
Conclusion(s): Men respond positively to group counseling. They persevere with psychologic assistance when the infertility etiology is man dependent. Group counseling stands out as highly effective for mitigating the emotional impact of infertility, particularly when it is offered as an integral part of the reproductive treatment. (Fertil Steril (R) 2010;94:1460-4.

• 出版日期2010-9