Objective: To assess the psychological condition of men at the start of the infertility work-up. Methods: Men seeking an infertility evaluation for the first time were recruited. Depression and anxiety symptoms and subjective psychological burden were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and a visual analog scale (VAS). Results: Data from 113 patients were analyzed. The mean age of the patients was 33.3 (range: 23-54) years, whereas the mean duration of infertility was 16.3 (range: 0-96) months. Results from the BDI and STAI were 2.24 (SD: ±3.18) and 33.74 (SD: ±8.04). Mild depressive symptoms were found in 4.5% of patients, whereas anxiety reached an abnormal level in 4.9%. There were significant correlations between the results from the BDI score and the duration of infertility (p ¼ .024), whereas the STAI and VAS scores showed no similar connection (p ¼ .142 and p ¼ .261, respectively). Among patients with infertility longer than 2 years, mild depressive symptoms occurred in 23.1%. Conclusion: Among men, the levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms were low at the start of the infertility work-up. Depressive symptom levels increased significantly with the duration of infertility, whereas anxiety levels and VAS scores did not demonstrate a similar correlation.

Numerous motivational and strong emotional intentions can be found in the background of the desire for a child. Hence unintended childlessness gives rise to a severe psychological burden to both members of the couple. In the literature, several studies are involved in the exploration of this subject, albeit most of them bring into focus the differences of psychological liabilities between the genders. A smaller proportion of these papers examined the psychological aspects affecting couples, and just a very small number of studies investigated the psychological aspects in men. Nevertheless, most of the studies proved that although the psychological aspects in women can be more significant compared to their partner, the psychological burden of infertile men are obviously above the population average. Several different, gender-specific coping-mechanisms have been identified, which tend to be less successful in men compared to women. The acquirement of proper coping mechanisms could be more emphasized during the psychotherapeutic part of reproductive treatment.

Infertility may be associated with severe psychological burden and many couples need mental support. We used dyadic approach to identify couples with disturbed psychological condition and we tested the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5-WBI) questionnaire as a possible, rapid screening method. Extensive psychological assessment of infertile couples was carried out with Beck's Depression Inventory, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, WHO-5-WBI, Symptom Check List-90 Revised Test, Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Data of 128 patients (64 couples) were used in the statistical calculations. The Two-Step cluster analysis has revealed 2 groups, which could be separated supremely based on the level of experienced depression, anxiety and according to the general mental health. The WHO-5-WBI questionnaire showed consistent results while classifying couples into groups, which were formed. Our results indicate that infertility affects both spouses almost in the same extent in several psychological aspects. A cluster of couples with increased psychological burden could be clearly separated. The WHO-5-WBI questionnaire was a promising tool to screen reliably spouses based on their psychological state and identify couples that need psychological support during their fertility work-up and treatment.

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In certain regions of the world the enormous rate of population growth raises economic and public health concerns and widely accessible contraceptive methods would be desired. In contrast, in other countries the use of effective contraception is a question of individual preferences. Today, most of the reliable contraceptive methods are applied by women, while the options for male methods are quite limited. It is well known that significant portion of pregnancies are still unplanned and several data revealed men's willingness to take part in family planning. Based on these needs, remarkable efforts have been made to develop a suitable hormonal contraceptive agent for men. With the exogenous suppression of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone secretion, the inhibition of the testicular testosterone production and the spermatogenesis can be achieved. In the beginning, testosterone-derivatives, or testosterone-progestin combinations were administered, later synthetic androgen agents were developed. Despite of these efforts, unfortunately, there is no safe, widely feasible male hormonal contraception to date, but in the future this goal can be achieved by solving the key hurdles. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(46): 1819-1830.