HOLLYWOOD, FLA. — Women with a pelvic floor disorder do not experience significantly diminished rates of sexual activity compared with unaffected women, based on a study of 505 women.
Only the desire component of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was significantly lower among women with a pelvic floor disorder, suggesting no notable impact on arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, or pain, Dr. Tola B. Omotosho said at the annual meeting of the American Urogynecologic Society.
Dr. Omotosho and colleagues recruited 505 women older than 40 years from September 2007 to April 2009. The cohort included 308 urogynecology patients with a pelvic floor disorder and 197 general gynecology patients without such a disorder.
Women in the pelvic floor disorder group were significantly older, with a mean age of 56, vs. 52 years in the unaffected group. Mean parity was higher in affected women (2.6 vs. 2.1), which was not significant after adjustment.
The primary outcome measure was the total mean score on the FSFI, where a higher score indicates better sexual function. The mean total score in the pelvic floor disorder group was 23.2, not significantly lower than the mean 24.4 score in the unaffected women.
“Women with pelvic floor disorders were as sexually active as women without pelvic floor disorders,” with sexual activity in the past 6 months reported by 62% of affected and 75% of unaffected women. This difference was not statistically significant, said Dr. Omotosho, an ob.gyn. fellow at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque.