Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Groote Schuur 7937, Cape Town, South Africa.
Hum Reprod. 2009 Nov;24(11):2821-6. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dep278. Epub 2009 Jul 29.
Recent years have seen a growing interest in the impact of infertility on reproductive health in developing countries. Most of the research which has addressed the psychosocial consequences of infertility in African countries has been qualitative in nature and focused on women. It was the aim of this study to assess psychological distress quantitatively in men suffering from couple infertility living in an urban community in South Africa.
The Symptom Checklist-90-R, a standardized instrument for the measurement of current psychological symptom status, was administered to 120 men upon first presentation to a public health sector infertility clinic (study group) in a tertiary referral centre. The control group comprised 120 men who attended an antenatal clinic with their partner. All men may have previously fathered a child. Raw test scores were converted into standard area T scores and analyzed further.
Participants in the study group differed in their psychological symptom status when compared with controls. Male partners of infertile couples had significantly elevated mean T scores for all nine primary symptom dimensions as well as the three global markers of distress (P < 0.0001 versus control), but these did not exceed the upper range of normal.
When compared with controls, male partners of infertile couples experienced elevated levels of psychological distress, but without, on average, suffering from psychopathology. A comparison with qualitative studies from African countries and with quantitative studies from the Western industrialized world revealed both similarities and differences. Understanding and addressing the male perspective of infertility is an important component of infertility management.
近年来，人们对发展中国家不孕对生殖健康的影响越来越感兴趣。在非洲国家，大多数研究不孕的社会心理后果的研究都是定性的，并且侧重于女性。本研究旨在定量评估生活在南非城市社区的夫妇不孕男性的心理困扰。
在一家三级转诊中心的公共卫生部门不孕诊所（研究组）首次就诊时，对 120 名男性使用症状清单-90-R（一种用于测量当前心理症状状况的标准化工具）进行评估。对照组由 120 名与伴侣一起参加产前诊所的男性组成。所有男性以前可能都有过孩子。原始测试分数转换为标准区域 T 分数，并进一步进行分析。
与对照组相比，研究组的参与者在心理症状状态上存在差异。不孕夫妇的男性伴侣在所有九个主要症状维度以及三个痛苦的全球指标上的平均 T 分数均显著升高（P <0.0001 与对照组相比），但未超过正常上限。
与对照组相比，不孕夫妇的男性伴侣经历了更高水平的心理困扰，但平均而言，他们没有遭受精神病理学的困扰。与来自非洲国家的定性研究和来自西方工业化世界的定量研究进行比较，发现了相似之处和不同之处。了解和解决不孕男性的观点是不孕管理的重要组成部分。
