Evaluation of the Female Sexual Function Index in a Population Based Sample from Finland

Abstract

The factor structure and reliability of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was evaluated in a Finnish population based sample of 2,081 women, age 33-43 years. In addition, associations between female sexual function and age, psychological distress, alcohol use, hormone based contraceptives, child sexual abuse (CSA), and adult sexual abuse were examined. The results supported a six factor solution for the FSFI with high internal consistencies, in line with earlier research in clinical populations. Psychological distress was positively associated with every dimension of the FSFI except desire problems. Age was associated with fewer pain problems. Alcohol use was associated with every dimension of the FSFI, but the direction of the association depended on if it was drinking in general or in connection to intercourse. More drinking in general was related to fewer sexual function problems while drinking in connection to intercourse was related to more sexual function problems. No significant correlation was found between adult sexual abuse and sexual function but between CSA and lubrication, satisfaction, and pain problems. Usage of oral contraceptive pill was not significantly associated with sexual function. The use of hormone based intrauterine systems was significantly associated with less pain and more desire, arousal, and satisfaction. In conclusion, the study supports use of the FSFI for assessing sexual function not only in clinical samples but also in population based samples. The associations found between sexual function and other important variables showed the complexity of sexual function.

Sexual Body Image and Its Correlates: A Population-Based Study of Finnish Women and Men

“…Female sexual function was assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Rosen et al, 2000), applying a six-factor structure shown to be valid for the current sample by Witting et al (2008). The six factors assessed desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.…”

Sexual function in women with Cushing’s Syndrome: A controlled study

“…Women with CS had significantly lower FSFI scores, while the median of total FSFI scores for patients with CS and the control group were 16.6 [IQR: [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and 26.8 [IQR: 25.5-30.4], respectively (p<0.001). The arousal, lubrication, the ability to achieve orgasm, pain and satisfaction subdomains of FSFI were significantly lower in patients with CS (Table 2).…”

“…The total score ranged between 2-36 points, and a total score of <26.55 indicated sexual dysfunction as described by Wiegel et al and in various studies. [11,13,14] The questionnaire survey was conducted during the early follicular (days 2-5) phase of the participants' menstrual cycle.…”

Safety and efficacy of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system: recent insights

“…Sexual function Cross-sectional analysis of LNG-IUS and copper IUD users using FSFI Prevalence of female sexual dysfunction was lower among LNG-IUS vs copper IUD users [66] Witting et al (2008) Epidemiological study of FSFI in a population sample LNG-IUS was associated with less pain, more desire, arousal, satisfaction, compared with other contraceptive methods [67] Halmesmäki et al…”