Relationship between sexual dysfunction and psychiatric status in premenopausal women with fibromyalgia.

Objectives: To evaluate the possible relationship between the sexual and psychiatric status of premenopausal female patients with fibromyalgia compared with healthy controls.

Methods: A total of 48 female patients with fibromyalgia and 38 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All the subjects were asked to complete the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for sexual status and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for psychiatric assessment. Serum biochemical analysis was done, and the serum hormonal levels were analyzed.

Results: The mean BDI score for patients was significantly greater than the score for the controls (P = 0.017) and the mean FSFI score was significantly lower than the score for the controls (P = 0.001). According to the FSFI data, female sexual dysfunction was found in 26 patients (54.2%) with fibromyalgia and only 6 controls (15.8%), a significant difference (Pearson chi-square = 14.46, P = 0.000). When the subscores of each domain of FSFI were evaluated, the most common sexual problem was diminished desire in patients (n = 30, 62.5%) and controls (n = 11, 28.9%). In the correlation analysis, the FSFI score showed a significant negative correlation with the BDI (r = -0.337, P = 0.002) and STAI (r = -0.413, P = 0.004) scores. No significant correlation was revealed between the FSFI and BDI or FSFI and STAI scores in the controls.

Conclusions: Depression is one of the emotional disorders commonly encountered in women with fibromyalgia, most possibly leading to sexual dysfunction. Thus, sexual dysfunction related to impaired psychiatric status should be considered a common problem in premenopausal women with fibromyalgia.