Sexuality of Tunisian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract

Introduction

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous disease with multiple facets. In a few decades, this syndrome has gone from a purely gynaecological domain to sexology one; PCOS is thus considered a systemic disease. However, the domain of sexuality continues to be neglected. The aim of our study was: assessing women's sexuality with PCOS by comparing them to a sample correlated with the age of control subjects. We performed a cross-sectional study of case-control, conducted between October and November 2015.

Data was collected by oral questionnaire proposed to women whose anonymity was respected. To assess the sexuality we used the “female sexual function index” (FSFI) developed by Rosen et al.

Results

The average BMI of the patients was 30.2 ± 6.3 kg/m², with a range of 17.2 to 43.5 kg/m². The average frequency of sexual intercourse per week was 1.6 ± 0.5 for patients and 2.1 ± 0.9 for the controls. The scores used in this study show that 90% of sexual dysfunction exists in women with PCOS For controls, a sexual dysfunction was found in 40% of cases.

All aspects of sexuality were affected (desire, arousal, orgasm and satisfaction). The lowest scores were found in the following areas: arousal, lubrication and orgasm.

Conclusion

The therapist during a consultation for a patient with PCOS should check her psychological state. Also, asking the patient about her sex life should be part of the monitoring of the disease.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.