Revealing the Connection Between Hemodialysis and Sexual Physiology in Women With End-Stage Renal Disease

Abstract

Introduction: In the recent past, the procedure of hemodialysis has frequently been opted for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) around the globe. In such patients, the concern of sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent, which causes psychological as well as social deterioration in these patients. Wretchedly, this issue has been ignored in developing countries like Pakistan because of social and cultural constraints.Objectives: The aim was to measure and compare Female Sexual Functions of Dialysis (FSFI) scores among three comparative groups: healthy controls, pre-dialysis patients, and hemodialysis patients.Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out with 60 females aged 22-50 years in which 20 were healthy (controls) and 40 were patients with ESRD; of these 40, 20 were taking only oral medicines (pre-dialysis) and 20 were also receiving hemodialysis (hemodialysis). Married women who could read Urdu and were living with live spouses were included, and those with any psychological or psychiatric illness were excluded. Data was collected through a Likert-scaled questionnaire, Urdu translation of the FSFI questionnaire, and scores of each domain were analyzed. Single-tail one-way ANOVA was used to observe the significant difference among the three comparative groups.Results: A strong statistical difference was observed among the hemodialysis, pre-dialysis, and healthy control groups when these three study groups were compared for the mean scores of all related domains of FSFI questtionarie. In each female sexual domain, i.e. Desire, Arousal, Lubrication, Orgasm, Satisfaction, and Pain, the diseased groups (pre-dialysis and hemodialysis) showed lower sexual scores than the healthy group. The lowest scores were observed in the pre-dialysis group (16.4 ± 6.8) and the highest were noticed in the healthy group (29.9 ± 1.8); the hemodialysis group (23.3 ± 5.0) expressed a moderate pattern of scores in each sexual domain.Conclusion: ESRD female patients who were receiving hemodialysis along with routine oral medications showed improved sexual physiology (with better FSFI scores) compared to those who were without hemodialysis.

Breaking the Silence; Reproductive and Sexual Health of Women Undergoing Hemodialysis, A Literature Review

“…All three prior research investigations concentrated solely on the sexual dysfunction of women undergoing hemodialysis, rather than their overall sexual and reproductive health experiences. 7,8,30 Among these, two quantitative studies have also included postmenopausal women, who after menopause become infertile and have a hypoactive sexual desire. 31 We conclude that, it is imperative to explore in-depth the phenomenon of interest, which is lived experiences of SRH among women of reproductive age undergoing hemodialysis in Pakistan.…”

Faktor Penyebab Gangguan Psikologis pada Penderita Penyakit Ginjal Kronis yang menjalani Hemodialisis: Literatur Reviu Naratif

“…Hubungan yang kuat antara kebutuhan seksual dengan kualitas hidup. Adanya gangguan fungsi seksual dapat mengakibatkan rusaknya kepercayaan diri individu, rasa keutuhan, hubungan sosial, dan aspek perkawinan, sehingga meningkatkan depresi dan kecemasan pada pasien HD (Abdul Rahman et al, 2023).…”

“…Adanya kadar testosteron total dan bebas menurun, yang dapat mempengaruhi fungsi seksual dan kepuasan pasien (Savadi et al, 2016). Kehilangan kemampuan seksualitas dapat menurunkan kepercayaan diri seseorang dan hal ini dapat menyebabkan ketidaknyamanan dalam hubungan perkawinan dan keluarga terjadi dampak psikologis dan sosial dari disfungsi seksual pada kesejahteraan pasien perlu mendapat perhatian yang serius (Abdul Rahman et al, 2023).…”