Sexual dysfunction in Egyptian females with systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross sectional study

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives</jats:title><jats:p> Sexual dysfunction in systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) patients is an important issue to be tackled. We aimed to study the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in SLE women and detect its association with depression, functional disability and quality of life. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p> This study included 94 SLE females. Ninety-eight control females agreed to participate. Patients and controls answered a written form of the Arabic version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Short Form 36 (SF-36). Disease activity and damage were assessed using the SLE Disease Activity Index and the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p> The frequency of sexual dysfunction was similar in the patients and control groups (77.7% versus 82.7%) while the BDI, HAQ-DI and SF-36 scores were significantly worse in SLE patients. SLE patients with and without sexual dysfunction differed in neither disease characteristics nor disease activity and damage indices. The FSFI showed a strong positive correlation with SF-36, and strong inverse correlations with BDI and HAQ-DI in the patients group while it had a weaker positive correlation with SF-36 and no correlations with the other two indices in the control group. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p> No significant difference was found in the prevalence of sexual dysfunction between SLE patients and controls. Sexual dysfunction in SLE patients is mostly related to depression, poor functional status, increased pain, poor health perception and bad quality of life. Neither disease activity nor damage contributes significantly to sexual dysfunction in lupus females. </jats:p></jats:sec>

Systemic lupus erythematosus and risk of sexual dysfunction: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis

“…Among the eight studies, 758 SLE patients and 1724 healthy individuals in the control group were ultimately enrolled in the meta-analysis. 12,15,16,19–23 Six studies reported the prevalence of SD in females and two were aimed towards SD in males. Methods for SD assessment were contrasting.…”

“…Patients with SLE often have a lower quality of life, higher level of depression and anxiety, and more negative attitudes towards their body image. 2,39,40 A recent Indian study conducted by Pinto and his colleagues showed that when factors such as a higher dose of steroids and disease activity were disregarded, it becomes apparent that depression, anxiety, and marital satisfaction might impair the sexual function of SLE patients. 41 According to the study of Boomsma et al., 14% of SLE patients reported suicidal ideation, while half of them described that their disease had a great impact on their daily lifestyles.…”

The effect of systemic lupus erythematosus on sexual function in women: an updated meta-analysis based on cross-sectional studies

“…A total of 367 records were retrieved from the 3 aforementioned electronic databases. Five studies that involved 710 women with SLE and 2,059 healthy women were finally included in the meta-analysis [12][13][14][15][16]. The flow diagram for study selection is presented in Fig.…”

Fatigue have impact on the sexual problems in Chinese females with systemic lupus erythematosus

“…Previous studies [ 9 – 12 , 14 ] have found that several factors were associated with female sexual problems in SLE patients, such as age, number of children, marital satisfaction, economic status, pain, disease duration, disease activity, certain psychological problems like depression and anxiety, functional status, and quality of life. Other factors such as higher dose of steroids also possibly result in female sexual problems [ 12 ].…”

“…A recent meta-analysis [8] revealed the rate of sexual dysfunction (SD) in SLE patients, ranging from 15% to 85.9%, which indicated the severity of the poor assessment and management of these issues. Over the past several years, only a handful of studies [9][10][11][12] used a validated tool of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to explore the relationship between SLE and sexual problems, demonstrating that SLE was associated with an increased risk of female sexual problems. Tseng et al [13] have reported that 52.5% have sexual problems in Taiwan SLE patients.…”