Oral papers
Endometriosis and Infertility: Impact on Sexuality
V. Rossi
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Institute of Clinical Sexology, Rome, Italy
E. Viozzi
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Institute of Clinical Sexology, Rome, Italy
F. M. Nimbi
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Department of Clinical and Dynamic Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
F. Tripodi
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Institute of Clinical Sexology, Rome, Italy
M. G. Porpora
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Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Urology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
https://doi.org/10.21465/2016-KP-OP-0042
Fulltext (english, pages 65-65).pdf
Abstracts
Objective: Endometriosis is a condition that has a great impact on women’s life. One of the most important consequences of the disease is infertility that may exacerbate the psychological, relational and sexual consequences on patients. The aim of the present study was to examine quality of life, anxiety, sexual functioning and relationship satisfaction of women with endometriosis and infertility. Infertility is supposed to be associated with a worse clinical profile.
Design and Method: Data were collected on 71 patients (39 women with endometriosis and 32 with endometriosis and infertility) aged between 20 and 50 (M=34.21, SD=8.38), recruited in the Gynecological and Obstetrics department of Policlinico Umberto I, Rome. Participants completed: a socio-demographic questionnaire, the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-Bref for quality of life, the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFS-Q) for sexual and relationship satisfaction, the Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI) for sexual functioning and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) for anxiety symptoms.
Results: Women without infertility obtained worse scores: sexual functioning (F(1,69)=10.97 p<.01), sexual (F(1,69)=17.44 p<.001) and relationship satisfaction (F(1,69)=10.18 p<.001) and quality of life (F(1,69)=13.56 p<.001).
Conclusions: Contrary to our hypothesis, endometriosis, with or without fertility impairment, has an impact on patients’ relationship, sexuality and quality of life. Therefore, infertility is not the main factor that explains a negative clinical profile. The present study suggests the importance of psychosexual counseling during medical treatment of the disease, and the need of involving partners in the assessment and in the health care decision making.