Sub-fertility and life style factors which affecting sub-fertility among women in Regional Director of Health Service area, Colombo

Background: Sub-fertility is one of the leading health issues with its economic and social implications in Sri Lanka and changes in lifestyles of the people have a great impact on it.Objective: To determine the association between selected lifestyle factors and sub-fertility among women in the Regional Director of Health Service area, Colombo.Methods: A case control study was conducted among sub-fertile (n=170) and fertile (n=340) women as case and control respectively. A pre-tested, structured interviewer administered questionnaire, which underwent face, content validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.8) was used. Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, two-way ANOVA, independent sample t- test and odds ratio (OR) were performed.Results: The mean age at marriage was 25.1±3.1 years and 26.5±3 years for fertile and sub-fertile women, respectively. Level of education of both groups was not significantly different (p= 0.120, 95% CI). Islamic women have high fertility than others. Vigorous physical activities were significantly high among sub-fertile women (p=0.000; 95%CI 1.08-1.59). OR for passive smoking for fertile women was 1.3, (95%CI). Sub-fertile women experienced a lack of full restful sleep than fertile women (p=0.001, 95%CI) and majority of sub-fertile women (63.8%) recorded high levels of stress.Conclusion: Vigorous physical activities, exposure to passive smoking, lack of full restful sleep, and having high levels of stress have the negative effects on fertility. Therefore, counselling sessions for the sub-fertile couples and a sensitization programme for newly married couples on lifestyle factors by the primary health care staff are recommended.