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Depression among infertile women attending Gynecology Referral Clinics in West Arsi and Bale Zones hospitals, 2025
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  • Published: 03 April 2026

Depression among infertile women attending Gynecology Referral Clinics in West Arsi and Bale Zones hospitals, 2025

  • Solomon Seyife Alemu1,
  • Endale Aboabe2,
  • Kefelegn Zemedkun3,
  • Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo1,
  • Mohammedamin Hajure3,
  • Addisalem Workie Demsash4,
  • Ginenus Fekadu5,6,
  • Geleta Nenko Dube8,
  • Yalo Daba9,
  • Lema Fikadu Wedajo7 &
  • …
  • Gemechu Gelan Bekele1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Diseases
  • Health care
  • Medical research
  • Risk factors

Abstract

The World Health Organization identifies infertility as a major public health issue, affecting about 17.5% of people globally. Depression among infertile women has bidirectional physiological, social, and economic effects. However, limited data exists in Ethiopia, where infertility is often linked to social discrimination. Investigating this issue is especially important in low-income countries. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among infertile women attending Gynecology Referral Clinics in West Arsi, East Bale, and Bale Zone’s hospitals in Oromia, Ethiopia, in 2025. Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 women from February 25 to April 25, 2025. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and participants were selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected via structured interviews and card reviews using Kobo Toolbox and analyzed with SPSS 26. Factors associated with depression were identified using binary and multivariable logistic regression at 95% CI and P < 0.05. In this study 412 of the total 423 women participated in the study, obtaining a 97.4% response rate. The prevalence of depression among infertile women was 53.40% (48.56%, 58.24%). Women aged between 30 and 39, 2.34 (1.05, 3.81); primary infertility, 1.69 (1.06, 2.61); infertility duration ≥ 10 years, 2.40 (1.14, 5.04); poor family support, 2.23 (1.05, 4.73); and lifetime Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), 1.74 (1.34, 2.66), were identified factors. Over half of infertile women in this study experienced depressive symptoms. Significant factors included age, type and duration of infertility, family support, and partner violence. The findings reveal a double burden of infertility and depression. Integrating psychological support, mental health education, and coordinated gynecologic–psychiatric care is recommended.

Data availability

If necessary, the corresponding author may be contacted at any time to obtain reasonable access to the data and supplementary materials utilized in this study. As a result, the principal investigator can be reached at any time at this g-mail address: [SoleSeifa@gmail.com](mailto: SoleSeifa@gmail.com).

Abbreviations

AOR:

Adjusted odds ratio

COR:

Crude odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

HCW:

Health care workers

OR:

Odds ratio

OSLO:

Oslo social support scale

RAS:

Relationship assessment scale

SPSS:

Statistical package for social sciences

STD:

Sexual transmitted disease

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Madda Walabu University Sheshemene campus for all of their support and for granting us ethical clearance. We also want to express our gratitude to all concerned hospitals in the West Arsi, Bale, and East Zonal health offices, data collectors, and supervisors who helped with this work. In a similar vein, we sincerely thank the study participants for their time and insightful data.

Funding

The authors did not receive any specific funding for this work. However, Madda Walabu University provided support for duplication and data collection expenses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Midwifery, College of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu University, Shashamene, Ethiopia

    Solomon Seyife Alemu, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo & Gemechu Gelan Bekele

  2. Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu University, Shashamene, Ethiopia

    Endale Aboabe

  3. Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu University, Shashamene, Ethiopia

    Kefelegn Zemedkun & Mohammedamin Hajure

  4. Department of Health Informatics, Debre Berhan University, Asrat Woldeyes Health Science Campus, Debrebirhan, Ethiopia

    Addisalem Workie Demsash

  5. School of Pharmacy, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

    Ginenus Fekadu

  6. Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Ginenus Fekadu

  7. Department of Midwifery, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

    Lema Fikadu Wedajo

  8. Department of Health Informatics, College of Health Sciences, Mattu University, Mattu, Ethiopia

    Geleta Nenko Dube

  9. Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Medical Science, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia

    Yalo Daba

Authors
  1. Solomon Seyife Alemu
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Contributions

All the authors have contributed equally to the proposal development, development of the tool, data collection process, and analysis. All the authors have revised the final version of the manuscript and given their approval for publication.Conceptualization: Solomon Seyife AlemuData Curation: Solomon Seyife Alemu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleFormal analysis: Solomon Seyife Alemu, Lema Fikadu Wedajo, Endale Aboabe, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleFunding acquisition : Solomon Seyife Alemu, Endale Aboabe, Kefelegn Zemedkun, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleInvestigation: Solomon Seyife Alemu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleProject administration : Solomon Seyife Alemu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleResources: Solomon Seyife Alemu, Mohammedamin Hajure, Endale Aboabe, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleSoftware : Solomon Seyife Alemu, Lema Fikadu Wedajo Endale Aboabe, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleValidation : Solomon Seyife Alemu, Lema Fikadu Wedajo, Endale Aboabe, Kefelegn Zemedkun , Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Gemechu Gelan BekeleVisualization : Solomon Seyife Alemu, Lema Fikadu Wedajo, Endale Aboabe, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Geleta Nenko Dube, Gemechu Gelan BekeleWriting: original draft : Solomon Seyife Gemechu Gelan BekeleWriting (review and editing): Solomon Seyife Alemu, Lema Fikadu Wedajo, Mohammedamin Hajure, Endale Aboabe, Negeso Gebeyehu Gejo, Addisalem Workie Demsash, Ginenus Fekadu, Yalo Daba, Gemechu Gelan Bekele.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solomon Seyife Alemu.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The Madda Walabu University, Sheshemene Campus School of Health Science Ethical Review Committee provided ethical clearance with IRB number RCSTT/61/2025. Prior to data collection, all study participants provided written consent and were informed of the study’s purpose. Every technique was applied in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Additionally, names and other identifying information were left out of the written questionnaires in order to preserve the confidentiality of the data. Every study participant was informed that their participation in the data collection would be voluntary.

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Alemu, S.S., Aboabe, E., Zemedkun, K. et al. Depression among infertile women attending Gynecology Referral Clinics in West Arsi and Bale Zones hospitals, 2025. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46059-y

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  • Received: 26 November 2025

  • Accepted: 24 March 2026

  • Published: 03 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46059-y

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Keywords

  • Depression
  • Infertility
  • Associated factors
  • Women
  • Ethiopia
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