TITLE:
Impact of Chronic Pelvic Pain on Female Sexual Function
AUTHORS:
Adriana Peterson Mariano Salata Romão, Ricardo Gorayeb, Gustavo Salata Romão, Omero Benedicto Poli-Neto, Antonio Alberto Nogueira
KEYWORDS:
Chronic Pelvic Pain; Sexual Function; Depression; Women
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.4 No.3,
March
28,
2013
ABSTRACT: The objective of the present study was to
determine the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and depression in women with
chronic pelvic pain (CPP). A case-control study was conducted on 66 women, 36
of them with CPP and 30 without this diagnosis. Depression was evaluated using
the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and sexual dysfunction was evaluated using
the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Data were analyzed statistically by
the Mann-Whitney test, Fisher exact test,
chisquare test, and Spearman correlation test. Regarding sociodemographic
data, no significant differences were detected between populations with respect
to the variables studied (age, schooling, number of children, income, salary,
and marital status), indicating group homogeneity and thus increasing the
reliability of the data. A cut-off of 26.55 points was used to calculate the
total score for sexual function. In the group of women with CPP, 94.4% were at
high risk for sexual dysfunction. Comparison of FSFI scores showed that the
domains of sexual function, such as orgasm,
lubrication and pain differed significantly between women with and without
CPPP. Correlations were detected between the following items: orgasm × age
(r = -0.01904), orgasm × number of
children (r =-0. 00947), orgasm ×
body mass index (BMI) (r =-0.00 955), relationship × age (r = 0.03952), income × relationship (r =-0.014680), relationship × number of children (r =-0.03623), depression × relationship (r =-0.16091), desire × age (r = -0.45255), desire × number of children (r = -0.01824), lubrication × excitement (r = 0.04198), and lubrication × BMI (r = -0.01608). The prevalence of depression
detected in the present study was 38.9% among women with pain and 3.3% among control
women. It was observed that women with CPP suffer a negative interference
regarding sexual function compared to controls. Thus, it can be seen that a
specific approach related to sexuality is extremely important within the
context of women with CPP. Depression was clearly associated with CPP and
therefore an interdisciplinary approach is fundamental in order to solve this
problem.