Received May 05, 2001
Accepted May 24, 2001

The stress provoked by the difficulty in having children can lead to various emotional changes. The objective of the present study was to develop a program of psychological evaluation in an attempt to identify couples with a profile of the stressful type when they face the problem of infertility. ln a total of 251 in fertile couples were submitted to the program of psychological evaluation (PPE). The psychometry of the infertile couples was evaluated using a questionnaire with 15 questions selected in order to detect emotional reactions caused by stress. The responses were assigned four grades with respect to frequency (I=never/rarely; 2=sometimes; 3=many times, 4=always). The sum of the responses corresponded to a PPE score ranging from 15 to 60 points. A PPE score of <30 points was defined as abnormal. The reliability of the questionnaires was determined on the basis of the alpha coefficient of Cronbach. The mean PPE score for women (27±8) was significantIy higher (p<0.01) than the score for men (22±7). The alpha coefficient of Cronbach was 0.88, and was identical for the female and male questionnaires. The PPE score was considered to be abnormal for 31.2% of the women and for 12.3% of the men. ln conclusion the data demonstrate that one of the characteristics of Brazilian infertile couples is that women are habitually more stressed by the situation of infertility than men.The PPE score is a simple and efficient tool for the identification of women and/or men with problems of stress caused by infertility.