Coping with infertility: distress and changes in sperm quality

Infertility represents a serious stressor for some patients as well as a ri sk factor for a decrease in sperm quality, The purpose of the present study was to identify coping strategies that went along with both better emotion al and physical adjustment to infertility. The sample consisted of 63 patie nts who contacted an andrological clinic more than one time. Prior to clini cal examination, patients filled out a questionnaire referring to the way i n which they coped with their wives) previous menstruation. Participants al so completed a scale assessing perceived distress due to infertility. Chang e in sperm concentration since baseline semen analysis and the level of dis tress were used to evaluate patient's adjustment, The better-adjusted patie nts showed less prominent overall coping efforts, and a higher proportion o f distancing coping strategies. An improvement in sperm quality also was as sociated with a low cognitive involvement in infertility. Situational uncon trollability of infertility could be a moderator of the effectiveness of co ping employed by the better-adjusted patients. In addition, the coping beha viour related to better adjustment could be due to a dispositional stress r esistance factor. For clinical implementation of the findings, the attitude s of a patient and the expectations of his wife have to be taken into consi deration.