Association Between Sexual Dysfunction, Sleep Impairment and Depression in Women with Fibromyalgia

Chronic Primary or Secondary Noninflammatory Musculoskeletal Pain and Disrupted Sexual Function and Relationships: A Systematic Review

“…Across all 51 studies, the median sample size was n = 100 (interquartile range 52-171), and 20% of the studies had a sample size of n ≥ 200. Twenty-six studies included female participants only (51%) (33)(34)(35)(36)38,39,42,47,(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(63)(64)(65)(66)68,69,71,72,74,75,78,79), 20 studies (39%) included both females and males (30-32,37,40,41,44-46, 48-50,58,60-62,67,70,73,77), 4 studies included males only (8%) (43,51,59,76), and 1 study (2%) (80) did not report the sex of the participants. Mean age ranged from 32.6 years in females with FM (74) to 69.2 years in females with hip osteoarthritis (OA) (30).…”

“…Of these, 46 (90%) were quantitative designs (30–75), 3 (6%) were qualitative (76–78), and 2 (4%) used a mixed‐methods design (79,80). The majority of the included studies were conducted in Asia (n = 19 [37%], with most [n = 15] from Turkey) (34,35,41,42,47,51,54,55,58,59,61,64–66,68,69,71,74,75) and Europe (n = 14 [27%]) (32,36,37,39,43–46,48,52,57,62,72,79), with comparatively less representation from North America (n = 8 [16%]) (30,31,38,40,56,67,70,77), Latin America and the Caribbean (n = 3 [6%]) (33,53,63), Africa (n = 3 [6%]) (49,50,73), and Oceania (n = 3 [6%]) (60,76,80). One study (2%) did not provide geographic information (78).…”

“…Of the 28 studies with a comparator group design, all but 5 used healthy, sexually active controls who were free of chronic medication use (32,33,39,55,56). The most common musculoskeletal pain conditions were FM/chronic widespread pain (CWP; 31 studies [33–39,42,43,46–48,51–57,63–66,68,69,71,72,74,75,78,79]) and low back pain (LBP; 14 studies [31,40,44,45,48–50,58,60,61,73,76,77,80]), classified under the ICD‐11 parent code of chronic primary pain. Other LBP presentations were classified as chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain (32) and chronic neuropathic pain parent codes (with double parenting to chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain) (41).…”

“…For the quantitative and mixed‐methods studies, a range of validated and purpose‐designed tools were used to assess participant outcomes related to sexual function. The most commonly used tools were the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) (used in 16 studies [34,35,47,53–55,57,58,61,63,64,66,69,71,74,75]), although FSFI scores were not reported by de Castro Ferreira et al (53), and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) (used in 4 studies [51,58,61,62]), although no outcomes data were reported by Adelved et al (62). The FSFI is a 19‐item tool that measures sexual function in females across 6 subscales (desire, subjective arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain) and by deriving a total score (range 2–36).…”

Impact of Fibromyalgia Syndrome on Female Sexual Function

“…Specifically, previous research has shown how FMS can lead to the inability to work, increasing the work absenteeism 51 . In recent decades, several studies have suggested that sexual function seems to be altered in patients with FMS, both in men 52,53 and more specifically in women 37,39,43 …”