Changes in Sexual Function and Positions in Women with Severe Obesity After Bariatric Surgery

Abstract

Introduction Severe obesity is most effectively treated with bariatric surgery. The resulting weight loss is expected to improve a variety of obesity-related conditions, including sexual dysfunction. Aim To analyze changes in the sexual function of women with obesity following bariatric surgery. Methods A prospective study was conducted between April 2015 and April 2016 involving 62 women with obesity who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to evaluate sexual function. Sexual dysfunction was defined as an FSFI score below 26.55. Patients’ clinical and demographic data were recorded. Sexual frequency of 12 different sexual positions was also evaluated. Main Outcome Measure Sexual dysfunction prevalence and the frequency of sexual positions before and 6 months after surgery. Results The prevalence of sexual dysfunction decreased from 62% before surgery to 19% 6 months after the procedure. There was a 19.2% improvement in the mean overall FSFI score ( P < .01). 6 months after surgery, the mean overall FSFI score had improved in all patients, with a statistically significant change being found in all 6 domains of the questionnaire ( P < .05). There was an increase in the frequency of 3 of 12 sexual positions evaluated. Conclusion Sexual function in women with obesity effectively improves after bariatric surgery. Favorable changes following weight loss included a significant reduction in the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and an increase in the frequency of different sexual positions during intercourse. Oliveira CFA, dos Santos PO, Oliveira RA, et al. Changes in sexual function and positions in women with severe obesity after bariatric surgery. Sex Med 2019;7:80–85.

Bariatric surgery has positive effects on patients’ and their partners’ sexual function: A prospective study

“…Recently, Olivera et al compared sex positions after bariatric surgery and found that the number of sex positions that the couples engaged in increased after the operation. FSFI and all subgroups showed significant improvement 27 . In our study, we found a significant improvement in FSFI and in all subdomains after surgery.…”

Estudo da função sexual em mulheres submetidas a cirurgia bariátrica

“…The women in this study had a higher level of education than in the studies of Oliveira et al 15 and Sarwer et al 16 , in which, respectively, 33% and 21% of women had only completed high school. It was not possible to compare data regarding profession, workload, steady partner and children, as Cherick et al 14 , Oliveira et al 15 and Sarwer et al 16 did not address this data in the description of their results. Regarding skin color, data from Oliveira et al 15 showed mixed ethnicity, which does not corroborate the present study.…”

“…According to Cherik et al 14 , Oliveira et al 15 , Sarwer et al 16 , Paul et al 17 , Treacy et al 18 , Janik et al 19 and Assimakopoulos et al 20 , respectively in France, Brazil, North Dakota, Sweden, France, Poland and Greece, the mean age of women who underwent a BS was 39 years, which corroborates the present study, even though one of the studies 19 presents a sample four times larger than this one. The same occurred with marital status and religion, as most women in this study were married and Catholic, as in other studies 14,15,19,20 .…”

“…The scores of each domain are multiplied by a factor that represents their influence and then added, reaching the total score. The factor is 0.6 for desire (1,2), 0.3 for arousal (3,4,5,6) and lubrication (7, 8, 9, 10) and 0.4 for orgasm (11,12,13), satisfaction (14,15,16) and pain (17,18,19). The value of the scores for each domain ranges from 0 to 6 (except desire, for which the minimum is 1.2, and satisfaction, for which it is 0.8) and the total score ranges from 2 to 36.…”

Review: Sex-Specific Aspects in the Bariatric Treatment of Severely Obese Women

“…The same authors also found amelioration of several sex positions. As a result, the surveyed women reported adopting a greater variety of sexual positions six months after bariatric surgery [21].…”