Epidemiology of Female Infertility; A Review of Literature

Ashraf Direkvand-Moghadam¹, Ali Delpisheh1,^2* and A. Khosravi³

1Prevention of Psychosocial Injuries Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran . 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran. 3Department of Immunology, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1165

ABSTRACT: The prevalence of infertility is varies worldwide ranging from 3% to 7%. The consequences of infertility are societal repercussions, personal suffering, psychological effects, clinical depression and sexual dysfunction. Therefore, the aim of the present study was a systematic review of the literature to determine the main risk factors of female infertility. MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Database were searched from 1980-2013. Information about study objectives, participants and type of study were searched systematically with extensive key words to optimize the sensitivity of data collection. Eighty-two published articles were included in the overall review. Ovarian factors, tubal and peritoneal factors, anomalies, advanced ages (over 35 years), hormonal disorders, habits, genetic factors, medical conditions and life style are the main causes of infertility in women. Changes of lifestyle, identifying and controlling chronic diseases, rapid and suitable treatments for sexually transmitted diseases can increase the chance of women fertility process.

KEYWORDS: Risk factors; Female infertility; Systematic review

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