Sexual function and associated factors in Iranian patients with chronic low back pain

Abstract

Study design: Case-control study. Objectives: (i) To describe the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients, (ii) to compare the range of sexual function outcomes between patients with CLBP and healthy controls and (iii) to investigate which factors are associated with sexual function within the cohort of individuals with CLBP. Setting: Low back pain (LBP) clinic of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran. Methods: A total of 702 patients with CLBP and 888 healthy controls participated in the study. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) were used to evaluate sexual function. In addition, quality of life, anxiety, functional status and pain intensity were assessed in patients. Univariate and multiple linear regression analyses were performed for the identification of factors associated with sexual function. Results: The prevalence of sexual problems in female patients with CLBP was 71.1% (n ¼ 177) while the corresponding figure for healthy women was 36.8% (n ¼ 161). Erectile dysfunction was present in 59.5% of male patients and in 24.5% of healthy males. Higher sexual function in both male and female patients with CLBP were being younger, lower duration of back pain, lower BMI, higher education level, being unemployed, physically active shorter sick leave, lower level of pain intensity, lower disability, higher family income, lower levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and higher psychical functioning and mental functioning. Conclusions: CLBP patients report considerably higher prevalences of sexual problems compared with healthy controls. Sex therapy and sexual management should be added to routine care and treatment of patients with CLBP.

Sexual Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Pain

“…The higher levels of pain reported by patients with SD as compared to those who did not report SD in the present study may suggest that chronic pain could also be considered a risk factor for SD, as suggested by others [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. This is strongly supported by the significant correlation between the VAS scores of pain intensity and severity of SD found in the present study.…”

“…More recently higher levels of SD were found in 166 women with chronic widespread pain compared to healthy women [13]. Another recent study on a large population of Iranian patients with chronic low back pain, showed a twice as high prevalence of SD compared to healthy controls (women 71.1% versus 36.8%; men 59.5% versus 24.5%, respectively) [14]. Higher prevalence of SD was also reported in male patients with migraine and tension type headaches [15] and in women with primary headaches [16].…”

Discussing sexual health in spinal care

“…Recently, a study was published about the association between low back pain and sexual dysfunction (SD) [9]. Not only physical constraints, but also emotional distress as well as other psychological factors have the potential to change the perception of sexuality in the spinal cord injured [10,11].…”

Are Primary and Secondary Provoked Vestibulodynia Two Different Entities? A Comparison of Pain, Psychosocial, and Sexual Characteristics

“…Although both the current study and the study of Brotto et al are based on fairly large sample sizes (269 and 132 women with PVD, respectively), women participating in the study of Brotto et al were all actively seeking treatment for their PVD symptoms, whereas the current study was based on a combined clinical and community sample, where participants may have been less distressed on average. Further, in the present study, duration of pain symptoms, age at first sexual intercourse attempt, and duration of the current partner relationship were controlled for because (i) they were different between the two groups yet are unrelated to etiology; and (ii) are either associated with sexual function and/or chronic pain outcomes [53,54].…”