Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in women with unexplained infertility

Background: Genital tuberculosis (GTB) is an important cause of female infertility, especially in developing countries. The positive results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in endometrial GTB in the absence of tubal damage raise the possibility of the detection of sub-clinical or latent disease, with doubtful benefits of treatment. Objective: To evaluate the mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in endometrial biopsy samples collected from unexplained infertile women attending Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility by using PCR techniques. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 144 infertile women with unexplained infertility aged 20-35 years old and normal Histro-saplango graphy findings were enrolled. Endometrial biopsy samples from each participant were tested for mycobacterium tuberculosis detecting by PCR. In 93 patients, peritoneal fluid was also taken for culture and PCR. Results: The PCR results of endometrial specimens were negative in all cases, demonstrating that there was no GTB infection among our patients. Conclusion: Our results showed that GTB could not be considered as a major problem in women with unexplained infertility. Although, studies have indicated that PCR is a useful method in diagnosing early GTB disease in infertile women with no demonstrable evidence of tubal or endometrial involvement.

Factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) from infertile women attending the Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility

Background: Nowadays, infertility problems have become a social concern, and are associated with multiple psychological and social problems. Also, it affects the interpersonal communication between the individual, familial, and social characteristics. Since women are exposed to stressors of physical, mental, social factors, and treatment of infertility, providing a psychometric screening tool is necessary for disorders of this group. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the factor structure of the general health questionnaire-28 to discover mental disorders in infertile women. Materials and Methods: In this study, 220 infertile women undergoing treatment of infertility were selected from the Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility with convenience sampling in 2011. After completing the general health questionnaire by the project manager, validity and, reliability of the questionnaire were calculated by confirmatory factor structure and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. Results: Four factors, including anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, depression, and physical symptoms were extracted from the factor structure. 50.12% of the total variance was explained by four factors. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was obtained 0.90. Conclusion: Analysis of the factor structure and reliability of General Health Questionnaire-28 showed that it is suitable as a screening instrument for assessing general health of infertile women.