Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the possible relationship between the sexual and psychiatric status of
premenopausal female patients with fibromyalgia compared with healthy controls.
Methods
A total of 48 female patients with fibromyalgia and 38 age-matched healthy controls
were enrolled in the study. All the subjects were asked to complete the Female Sexual
Function Index (FSFI) for sexual status and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for psychiatric assessment. Serum biochemical
analysis was done, and the serum hormonal levels were analyzed.
Results
The mean BDI score for patients was significantly greater than the score for the controls
(P = 0.017) and the mean FSFI score was significantly lower than the score for the controls
(P = 0.001). According to the FSFI data, female sexual dysfunction was found in 26 patients
(54.2%) with fibromyalgia and only 6 controls (15.8%), a significant difference (Pearson
chi-square = 14.46, P = 0.000). When the subscores of each domain of FSFI were evaluated, the most common
sexual problem was diminished desire in patients (n = 30, 62.5%) and controls (n =
11, 28.9%). In the correlation analysis, the FSFI score showed a significant negative
correlation with the BDI (r = −0.337, P = 0.002) and STAI (r = −0.413, P = 0.004) scores. No significant correlation was revealed between the FSFI and BDI
or FSFI and STAI scores in the controls.
Conclusions
Depression is one of the emotional disorders commonly encountered in women with fibromyalgia,
most possibly leading to sexual dysfunction. Thus, sexual dysfunction related to impaired
psychiatric status should be considered a common problem in premenopausal women with
fibromyalgia.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 3,
2005
Received:
May 5,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
