Temperament and character in couples with fertility disorders: a double-blind, controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the personality features of infertile patients. DESIGN: A double-blind, controlled study. SETTING: An outpatient facility for diagnosis and care of infertility. PATIENT(S): We assessed 142 infertile couples with obstetric-gynecologic clinical and instrumental examinations. The couples were divided into three groups: organic infertility, functional infertility, and infertility of uncertain origin. The third group was excluded. INTERVENTION(S): Organic infertility and functional infertility were ascertained with gynecologic and andrologic clinical examinations, seminal liquid examination, postcoital testing, progesterone assay, hysterosalpingography, biopsy of endometrium, and laparoscopy. Personality traits were assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Results of the Temperament and Character Inventory. RESULT(S): Infertile women showed lower Cooperativeness than control women. Women with functional infertility had lower scores in Cooperativeness and Self-Directedness than women with organic infertility. Men belonging to the functional infertility group had a lower Novelty Seeking score than did those of the organic infertility group. Men and women in the functional infertility group showed higher Harm Avoidance than those in the organic infertility and control groups. CONCLUSION(S): The results emphasize that the study of personality in the diagnostic and therapeutic assessment of infertility might provide useful predictive elements for functional infertility.