Anxiety of Infertile Women Undergoing IVF-ET: Relation to the Grief Process

The psychological state of 102 infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer was investigated. The levels of anxiety were measured by the state trait anxiety inventory and the manifest anxiety scale. The process of accepting infertility and attitudes toward treatment were explored by a semistructured interview. The mean score of state anxiety for the subjects was 50.0 which was considerably higher than the standard score of 42 for the general Japanese females. Women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer with higher levels of anxiety remain in the introversive stage of the grief process, have a more positive attitude toward treatment, a more pessimistic outlook on the possibility of successful pregnancy, and feel more agitation.