Gormley, KevinAldossary, Jameela2023-06-012023-06-012023-06-08Harvard's referencehttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/68234male infertility and psychological, cultural, and social aspects Acknowl Background Aim Methodology Results Conclusions Background Estimations have suggested that infertility affects as many as 8-12% of couples worldwide, with the presence of a male cause of infertility in about 50% of such couples (Agarwal et al. 2021). Nevertheless, fertility problems still tend to be viewed as a women’s problem, even when men are diagnosed as having male-factor infertility (Hanna, Gough, & Coan, 2017). Furthermore, men with a male factor diagnosis of infertility are an under-researched group in the field of reproductive medicine. There are psychological, cultural, and social aspects of male infertility that impact negatively on infertile males and may result in various support needs. The focus of this review is these as well as the psychological effectiveness of clinical care and the performance of psychological clinical care for infertile men, in terms of addressing the psychological needs of infertile males. Aim This review aimed to analyze the psychological, cultural, and social aspects of male infertility, to determine the psychological effects of clinical care for infertile men, and to provide an overview of the performance of psychological clinical care for infertile men. Two research questions were set: ‘What are the psychological aspects of male infertility? and ‘How effective is psychological clinical care for infertile men?’ Methodology A systematic review was used as a method to collect material on male infertility relevant to answering the two research questions. A search strategy was used to guide the search for articles, and this was displayed in the Prisma Flow figure. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied to the articles. The CASP checklist was used to evaluate the quality of the articles included in the review. Results It was found that there were several psychological aspects associated with male infertility, which, in some cases may hurt infertile males. For example, men may feel stigmatized, experience sexual dysfunction, or have a low sense of self-esteem or a low quality of life. Men may struggle to adapt to fertility treatment, which could result in depression, stress, and anxiety. The findings of the review indicated that psychological clinical care for infertile men has not been particularly effective. This was apparent because the performance of psychological clinical care for infertile men appeared to be of a low level of performance since it currently lacks what infertile men need. Conclusion Infertile men need more effective clinical and psychological care that fulfills their mental health h needs. It would seem that from this review infertile men feel “…left out of the dialogue in infertility clinics”. Men reported the focus on the female rather than the male. Generally, they do not wish to talk to, or obtain support from family and friends about their infertility and would welcome advice and information from healthcare professionals. Training and support for healthcare professionals is also required to provide a comprehensive and seamless service.72enInfertilitysubfertilityMale InfertilityReproductive Technology(ART)Thesis