Psychological aspects in male infertility and its association with sperm parameters
Male infertility; Reproduction; Self-esteem; Perception; Market value.
Conjugal infertility is a reproductive system's disease that occur in couples trying to get pregnant for at least twelve months. Male infertility is related to reduced semen quality and has been attributed to numerous factors, including psychological stress, which has been the focus of several more recent studies. According to the literature, the sperm parameters that can be affected by emotional aspects are: Kruger's strict morphology, sperm motility and sperm concentration. The present study will use the socio-economic questionnaire, the Fertility Adjustment Scale (Glover et al., 1999), the Relationship Satisfaction Scale (Pascoal, Oliveira & Raposo, 2013), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale adapted by Hutz (2000) and the Self-Perception and Market Value Scale (Fisher et al., 2008) to evaluate 134 male patients who seek treatment for conjugal infertility at the Assisted Reproduction Center at the Januário Cinco Maternity-School in Rio Grande do Norte. Through the analyzes, we will try to understand if there is an association between the parameters of seminal quality and the psychological aspects experienced by men suffering from conjugal infertility, whether there are psychological differences in coping with infertility among men who already have children and men who did not have children, and if there are psychological differences between men whose conjugal infertility is the result of a female factor and man whose infertility is caused by a male factor. It is sought to better understand the influence of these psychological aspects on the health of man, reinforcing the need for psychological support in coping with the disease.