Do Iranian Women with Endometriosis Suffer from Sexual Dysfunction?

Endometriosis is a gynecological disorder. One of the most disabling clinical problems of affected women is pain syndrome which presenting with dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia. Sexual dysfunction is one of the health problems is these women which is not regarded as it should be. The goal of this study was to evaluate sexual function in Iranian women with endometriosis in comparison with healthy controls. Forty-six married women with confirmed endometriosis and 80 healthy subjects enrolled. Participants were asked to answer the valid and reliable Persian version of Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. The most common clinical symptom were dysmenorrheal and dyspareunia. The mean Visual Analogue Scale for pain during sex was 37.4 +/- A 35.7 and mean sexual activity satisfaction was 64.4 +/- A 33.6 %. Total FSFI score and scores of three out of six subscales (arousal, orgasm and pain) were significantly different between patients and controls. By considering 26.55 as cut off point, we found that education level and body mass index (BMI) were significantly different in patients with and without sexual dysfunction. BMI was the independent predictor for total FSFI score in both case and control groups. Iranian women with endometriosis exhibited significant dysfunction in most domains of FSFI questionnaire. So, sexual dysfunction should be considered in Iranian women with endometriosis.