Relationships among Type-D Personality, Fatigue, and Quality of Life in Infertile Women

Purpose

The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of the type-D personality and identify the relationship between type-D personality, fatigue, and quality of life (QoL) in infertile women.

Methods

A total of 149 infertile women were recruited between October 2020 and January 2021. The participants were assessed through self-administered questionnaires using the type- D personality scale-14, fatigue severity scale, and fertility QoL instrumental questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, chi-square test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis using the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program for Windows.

Results

Approximately 40.9% of infertile women were classified into the type-D personality group, which showed significantly higher fatigue and lower QoL than the non-type-D personality group. Fatigue was the most influential factor on the QoL of infertile women (β = −.23, p = .003), followed by the duration of infertility treatment (β = −.22, p = .003), type-D personality (β = −.18, p = .025), and relationship with spouse (β = −.17, p = .024). These variables account for approximately 22% of the variance.

Conclusions

Intervention programs that consider fatigue, type-D personality, relationship with spouses, and treatment duration may be useful for improving QoL in infertile women.