A STUDY OF STIGMA, SELF DEVOLUTION, HOPELESSNESS AND COPING EXPERIENCE AMONG TRIBAL INFERTILE FEMALES OF JHARKHAND, INDIA

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of infertility worldwide is approximately 1 in 6 and growing as a global menace.  Couples who are unable to conceive find it as a personal failure and face mental trauma and social breakdown. Religion and socioeconomic traditions in our country link womanhood to motherhood, which causes stigma in infertile couples especially females. Aim: This study aimed to observe the socio-demographic factors and stigma scale among infertile tribal women’s from Deoghar district of Jharkhand, India. Methodology: The cross sectional study was conducted at few designated clinics at Deoghar. All the eligible couples seeking infertility treatment consenting to be a part of the study were included. A pre designed Performa was used to fill up the socio demographic profile of screened infertile couples. For observing infertility stigma scale (ISS) in female, FU et al., method was used. The present study used 22 supportive items ranked on a 5 point likert scale. The obtained result was statistically analyzed by Student’s t test. Results: Out of 175 infertile females recruited for the study, 127 gave consent for stigma study. Duration of infertility among the study group ranged between 2 to 7 years. The duration of infertility was 3.51±1.45 years. Most of the females were housewife (81.48%) and 62.96% respondents belonged to joint family. The overall stigma scale was 85.44±6.72. The average value was 2.61± 1.23. Out of four ISS factors, self devolution score was 2.92±1.1; public stigma score, family stigma and social withdrawal score was 2.51±1.26, 2.05±0.94 score 2.82±1.32 respectively. Conclusion: Present study showed that infertile females experience a high level of social stigma and self devolution. However, government policies and suitable public health educational, awareness programs can improve patient’s cognition and help coping with pessimistic experiences and obtain improved quality of life.