Female Sexual Function of Overweight Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus – A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are increasing worldwide and may compromise female sexual function. We hypothesize that among GDM patients in the third trimester of pregnancy, those with excess body fat would have worse female sexual function scores than normal weight women. Our aim was to assess the sexual function of overweight compared to normal weight women with GDM. This was a cross-sectional survey involving 143 Brazilian women with GDM in the third trimester of pregnancy: 76 were overweight (pre-pregnancy body mass index-BMI≥25.0 Kg/m2) and 67 were normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 Kg/m2). Participants were recruited from March 2010 to April 2013 at the antenatal clinic of a single public tertiary teaching institution. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire was used to assess sexual function. Overall, 51.7% of the 143 participants were at risk for sexual dysfunction symptoms (FSFI scores ≤26); this rate was significantly higher among overweight compared to normal weight women (60.5% versus 41.8%, p = 0.038). Mean total FSFI scores were significantly lower in overweight compared to normal weight women (21.7±9.2 versus 24.9±8.0, p = 0.029). Compared to normal weight women, overweight participants had lower mean scores in desire (3.4±1.2 versus 4.0±1.4, p = 0.007) and lubrication (3.8±2.0 versus 4.5±1.6, p = 0.023). According to these results, overweight women with GDM in the third trimester of pregnancy have lower female sexual function scores than normal weight women with the same disorder.

Comparação da qualidade de vida em gestantes com disfunção sexual

“…As disfunções sexuais ocorrem em ambos os sexos e são definidas pela falta, desconforto e/ou dor no decorrer da resposta sexual, interferindo de forma negativa em alguma fase desse evento (desejo, excitação e/ou orgasmo), podendo causar bloqueios e traumas [7][8][9][10][11][12] .…”

“…Isso pode causar desconforto e afetar a sua QV 7,9,13,14 . Durante o período gestacional, essa disfunção pode ocorrer por questões como presença de desconforto físico, receio de machucar o bebê, diminuição da libido e dor durante o ato sexual 8,[15][16][17][18] .…”

Maternal overweight and sexual function in pregnancy

“…Besides having a significantly lower mean overall FSFI score, overweight women in the 3rd trimester had significantly lower mean scores in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and dyspareunia domains. In a previous study, Ribeiro et al reported that 67 overweight gestational diabetes patients in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy had significantly lower FSFI scores than 73 normal weight women with gestational diabetes.…”

“…Despite some evidence that being overweight may have a negative effect on non‐pregnant women′s sexual function , this topic has not been extensively investigated among pregnant women. In a previous study that analyzed the sexual function of 143 women with gestational diabetes using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire, we observed that women with a pre‐pregnancy body mass index (BMI) ≥25 had poorer sexual function than normal weight women .…”

Obesity, Overweight, Female Sexual Function, and Penile-Vaginal Intercourse Frequency

“…Notably, several Brazilian studies show that female obesity and overweight are related poorer sexual function (Ferraresi, Lara, Reis, & Rosa e Silva, 2013;Martins e Silva, Rego, Galvao, Florencio, & Cavalcante, 2013;Ribeiro et al, 2014;Zueff, Lara, Vieira, Martins Wde, & Ferriani, 2015), which argues against a cultural difference in Brazil. With one single exception, none of these research findings are cited by Lara et al, and the only finding given in support of a direct relation between coital frequency and obesity is a study with Swedish 70-year-olds (Beckman, Waern, Ostling, Sundh, & Skoog, 2014), the findings of which are likely not generalizable to younger ages.…”