Evaluation of women's sexual quality of life, depression, and sexual functions in the pregnancy and postpartum periods: A multi‐centered study

Abstract

Aim This multi‐centered, longitudinal, and prospective study aims to identify women's sexual functions, sexual quality of life, and depression and their relationships with each other in the pregnancy and postpartum periods. Methods The participating pregnant women (n = 113) were interviewed six times: once in each trimester, and once in the eighth week third month, and sixth month postpartum. This study was conducted in three regions of Turkey including Marmara, Mediterranean, and Central Anatolia regions. Data were collected through the “Socio‐demographic Form,” “Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI),” Sexual Quality of Life‐Female Questionnaire (SQLQ‐F), and “Center for Epidemiologic Studies‐Depression Scale (CES‐D).” While the first interviews were administered face to face, successive ones were administered via phone. Results The sexual dysfunction rates of the participants were found to be high in the pregnancy and postpartum periods, and their sexual quality of life, which decreased as the pregnancy months progressed, was found to increase significantly with the progress in the postpartum period. The sexual dysfunction increased and sexual quality of life decreased significantly with the increase in depression symptoms in the pregnancy and postpartum periods. When the depressive symptoms decreased especially in the sixth month postpartum, sexual quality of life was also found to increase. Conclusions As a result, in the pregnancy and postpartum periods, it is highly important to provide women with diagnosis through a holistic approach by creating available environments to assess their psychological health and sexual functions and refer them to the related physicians when necessary.

Predictors of social intermediate factors associated with sexual quality of life of women: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Women with better sexual functioning showed greater sexual quality of life. Sexual quality of life and functioning both are associated with the sexual dimension, and it seems that sexual functioning through sexual drive and its impact on personal, social, and familial relationships can influence the general quality of life and the sexual quality of life [ 44 , 45 ].…”

Women`s sexual function during the postpartum period: A systematic review on measurement tools

“…PRISMA = preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, WOS = Web of Science. Prospective cohort study [20] ---FSFI [10] 2000 Sexual function Clinical trial [21][22][23] Cross-sectional study [18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] Prospective cohort study [20,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Iranian version of 19-item FSFI [18,[50][51][52] Hungarian version of 19-item FSFI [35] Taiwan version of 19-item FSFI [44,53] The Turkish version of 19-item FSFI [46,54] German version of Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI-d) [38,55] SFQ28 [56] 2002 Sexual health 28-item questionnaire 7 domains of:…”

Assessment instruments to evaluate sexual function and satisfaction of pregnant women in prenatal health care context: scoping review protocol

“…5,[10][11][14][15][16][17] The research conducted by Branecka-Wózniak et al 2 with patients of the pregnancy pathology ward, demonstrated that higher levels of sexual satisfaction in every dimension, were associated with higher level of satisfaction with life and emphasize the need for comprehensive perinatal care and professional sexual counselling. Surucu et al 18 in their study found out, that the sexual dysfunction rates of the participants were high during pregnancy, and their sexual quality of life decreased as the pregnancy months progressed. With different results, the research of Kucukdurmaz et al 19 reported that the sexual dysfunction rate was higher in the first and third trimesters compared to the second trimester.…”

“…In this regard, sexual health should be regarded as an important component of general health; effective and accurate guidance is considered to contribute to the maintenance of psychological health and the improvement of women's health. 18 Barriers, which can contribute to a lack of screening for sexual dysfunction, include patient discomfort with sexual topics, scarcity of provider training about sexual medicine, and a perceived shortage of time to address these concerns during health care appointments. 22 To improve the access to information about sexual function and satisfaction during pregnancy, it's important to identify and map the valid, reliable, and specific assessment instruments and their possibilities and limitations to prevent problems, identify women needs, and plan specific health care interventions.…”