Interstitial Cystitis and Female Sexual Dysfunction

• Published in: Urology (Ridgewood, N.J.) Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 608 - 610
• Main Authors: Ottem, Derek P, Carr, Lesley K, Perks, Alexandra E, Lee, Patricia, Teichman, Joel M.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.04.2007; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Cystitis, Interstitial - complications; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological - etiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Urinary system involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; Urology; Nephrology; Urinary system disease; Sexual dysfunction; Female; Urinary tract disease; Interstitial cystitis; Urology
• DOI: 10.1016/j.urology.2006.12.024
• ISSN: 0090-4295

Objectives To use the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to compare female sexual dysfunction in patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC) with that in controls. Methods Consecutive patients with IC and asymptomatic controls were tested for voiding diary voided volumes, Pelvic Pain and Urgency/Frequency Questionnaire scores, and FSFI scores. Results Of the 97 subjects, 75 had IC and 22 were controls. The mean age was 38 and 43 years ( P = 0.09), the voided volume was 165 mL and 294 mL ( P <0.0001), and the Pelvic Pain and Urgency/Frequency Questionnaire score was 18 versus 3 ( P <0.0001) for the IC and control groups, respectively. The total adjusted FSFI scores differed between patients with IC and the controls (20.2 ± 9.6 versus 29.0 ± 6.8, respectively, P <0.001). Using 26.55 as the cutpoint, 51 patients with IC (68%) had an abnormal FSFI score versus 3 controls (14%; P <0.001). Patients with IC scored worse on all domains of female sexual dysfunction than did the controls ( P <0.01). Conclusions The results of our study have shown that female patients with IC have sexual dysfunction, including pain, more commonly than do controls.