Prevalence of Infertility and Its Socio-Economic Determinants among the Rural Women of Andaman Islands, India

The study was conducted as an attempt to estimate the prevalence of infertility among the rural women of Andaman Islands.The study was carried out in the villages of three tehsils viz., Diglipur, Mayabunder and Rangatof Andaman Island during the period October 2011 to September 2012.The information on age, religion, occupation, monthly income, menstrual history, marital history and gynecological and medical history was collected by trained field staff using a pretested structured questionnaire. Out of the 8,192 ever-married women surveyed, 171(2.1% 95%CI 1.8, 2.4) were infertile. The mean age of infertile women was 30.19 (SD+6.02) years and the mean age at menarche was 12.30 (SD+0.92) years. Menstrual problem was higher among the infertile group (57.8%) as compared to the fertile group (8.8%) and the difference was statistically significant (Χ 2 =455.39, p<0.0001). There was a significant association between age, education, occupation, economic status and age at marriage with infertility. The prevalence of infertility among the rural women of Andaman Islands was found to be low, which could be attributed to a better socioeconomic status and easily accessible healthcare facilities available in these islands.