High Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction in Women with Rheumatic Diseases: A not Recognized Health Domain

ObjectiveTo measure the sexual satisfaction and the prevalence of dysfunction in women with rheumatic diseases.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted, in which the patients were enrolled in two clinical settings; Public Health Insurance and Social Security Service. The presence of sexual dysfunction was assessed with the questionnaire Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI)'. The FSFI was self-administered and consisted of 19 questions covering six domains; desire, subjective arousal, lubrication, orgasm and pain. The patients' answers were based on the 4weeks prior to completing the questionnaire. A total score of 26 indicated sexual dysfunction.Results451 women participated, mean age of 49.27years (SD 13.58). The most frequent diagnoses were: Rheumatoid Arthritis (234, 51.9%), Systemic Lupus Erythematous (58, 12.9%), Osteoarthritis (35, 7.8%) and Fibromyalgia (25, 5.5%). The median FSFI score was 12.3 (IQR 12.8) and sexual dysfunction was found in 94.9% of patients. Median and IQR scores for each domain were as follows: desire 5.4 (2.4), subjective arousal 1.2 (3.3), lubrication 2.1 (3.9), orgasm 0 (3.6), satisfaction 2.4 (1.2) and pain 0 (4.8). There was no difference found between the rheumatic diseases studied and the FSFI score or the percentage of patients with sexual dysfunction. There is a negative correlation (Spearman rho -0.328, p=0.01) between age and the final score, a positive correlation between age and (0.449, p=0.01) desire, and a negative correlation with the remaining categories: subjective arousal (rho= -0.351, p=0.01), lubrication (rho= -0.387, p=0.01), orgasm (rho= -0.346, p=0.01), and pain (rho= -0.411, p=0.01).ConclusionThe sexual dysfunction frequency in rheumatic patients is high. It is necessary to investigate and act on this problem to increase the quality of life of our patients.