Comparison of Perceived Social Support and Domestic Violence Between Fertile and Infertile Women in North of Iran

Introduction: Infertility is a global health problem with higher psychological consequences for women. The level of domestic violence and perceived social support and its associated factors in infertile and fertile women differ between developed and developing countries. Objective: The present study aims to determine and compare perceived social support and domestic violence among fertile and infertile women in northern Iran. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 344 eligible women (172 infertile and 172 fertile) who were selected using a convenience sampling method from among those visited two infertility treatment and gynecology clinics of Al-Zahra Hospital in Rasht, north of Iran, in 2021. The instruments were a sociodemographic/fertility profile form, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the domestic violence sale. After collecting the data, they were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and multiple linear regression analysis, considering a significance level of P<0.05. Results: The mean age of fertile and infertile women was 35.43±6.20 and 34.47±5.88 years, respectively. The mean score of domestic violence was significantly different between fertile and infertile women (11.96±13.84 in fertile women vs 6.38±9.69 in infertile women, P=0.001), but this difference was not significant after controlling for sociodemographic/fertility variables. The total MSPSS score was 58±15 for fertile women and 58±4.16 for infertile women. The was no was significant difference in the MSPSS score between fertile and infertile women after controlling for sociodemographic/fertility variables. According to the regression coefficients, in fertile women, only family income level (P=0.008, b=-6.43) had a significant relationship with perceived social support, while in infertile women, family income status (P=0.034, b=- 6.18) and women’s occupation (P=0.008, b=14.58) had a statistically significant relationship with perceived social support. There was a significant relationship between the total score of domestic violence and age at marriage (P=0.004, b=-1.28), husband’s education (P=0.002, b=-7.66), and place of residence (P=0.031, b=-5.44) in fertile women, while the total score of domestic violence in infertile women had a statistically significant relationship only with family income level (P=0.001, b=5.71) Conclusion: Domestic violence is less common in infertile women than in fertile women from north of Iran. After studying the predictive effect of social support on domestic violence in fertile and infertile women, the results showed that perceived social support was not a predictor of this difference. Given that fertile women were exposed to more domestic violence, it is suggested that future studies focus on other factors related to violence in these women.