Psychological Wellbeing in Iranian Infertile Women: A Review of the Studies in Iran

Background & Aims: Recognition of the emotional, social, and mental health of infertile women could contribute to their quality of life. The assessment of psychological wellbeing is considered to be essential in this regard. The present study aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the research focused on the psychological wellbeing of infertile women in Iran. Materials & Methods: This review study was conducted to find the studies regarding Iranian infertile women via searching in Persian databases (MagIran, SID, and IranMedex) and English databases (Google Scholar, Web of Science, EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus) using a combination of Persian keywords, including infertile, infertility, wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and Iran with no time limitation. In total, 24 related articles were retrieved, 12 of which were specifically focused on the psychological wellbeing of infertile women in Iran and further reviewed. Results: According to the literature, the psychological wellbeing of infertile women has increased in recent years, and the average psychological wellbeing is reported to be higher in large cities with various ethnicities (especially Persian-speaking ethnicities) compared to smaller cities. In addition, the educational interventions and consultations that have been performed regarding the psychological wellbeing of infertile women using various methods in Iran have largely contributed to the improvement of this factor. Conclusion: Although the psychological wellbeing of Iranian infertile women has been reported to increase in recent studies, the effects of some demographic variables on the psychological wellbeing of these women have not been adequately investigated in most of the studies in Iran. Therefore, it is recommended that the associations of various demographic characteristics and psychological wellbeing be further explored. It seems that descriptive studies on large sample sizes are required in order to assess the effects of some demographic variables (e.g., education level, ethnicity, and residence) on the psychological wellbeing of infertile women.