This is a prospective study to assess the psychiatric morbidity in Chinese infertile women who underwent treatments with assisted reproductive technology and also the impact of treatment failure. The 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were employed before and 3 weeks after the assisted reproductive technology treatment. Data from 372 patients who completed the questionnaires and failed the treatment were analyzed. Before treatment, 33% of the participants scored above the GHQ cutoff, and 8% had a BDI score of 20 or above, signifying moderate to severe depression. Following failed treatment, 43% scored above GHQ cutoff, and 8% had BDI scores 20 or above. The posttreatment GHQ and BDI scores were significantly higher than the corresponding scores at baseline (p < 0.001). About 13% of the participants reported self-harm ideas. The severity of depression following a failed treatment was positively associated with the duration of infertility (p < 0.05), but not with the posttreatment BDI scores, age, education, and number of previous treatment episodes. Our results show that one third of the women who sought infertility treatment had an impaired psychological well-being. Following failed treatment, there was a further deterioration in mental health, and about 10% of the participants were moderately to severely depressed. Proper psychological care and counseling should be an integral part of infertility management among the Chinese population.

Objective To explore men's psychological reaction and its evolutionary course over 1 year after miscarriage, to compare this reaction with that of their female partners and to investigate the possible correlation of psychological states between partners.Design Prospective 1-year longitudinal observational study.Setting A university-affiliated tertiary referral hospital in Hong Kong.Sample Eighty-three miscarrying couples.Methods The psychological reactions of miscarrying women and their male partners were assessed immediately and at 3, 6 and 12 months after miscarriage.Main outcome measures Psychological outcomes were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).Results A substantial proportion of men (43.4%) scored high in GHQ-12 and 16.9% scored high in BDI immediately after miscarriage. In men, both psychometric scores decreased sharply within the first 3 months and reached a plateau. When compared with women, men scored significantly lower in GHQ-12 and BDI during the 1-year course after miscarriage. A planned pregnancy was a significant risk factor (P = 0.008) associated with an initial high BDI score in men. There was a significant positive correlation between couples in both GHQ-12 and BDI scores throughout the longitudinal course.Conclusions Although the psychological impact of miscarriage on men was less enduring when compared with that on women, a significant proportion of men demonstrated psychological distress after miscarriage. The significant positive correlation in a couple's psychological reaction indicated that psychological morbidity was not confined only to a woman's own experience, but also affected her relationship with her male partner.

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