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The Sexual Lives of Women Living with Fibromyalgia: A Qualitative Study

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Abstract

This study examined women’s perceptions of the impact of FM on a broad range of aspects of their sexual well-being as well as on their romantic and sexual relationship. Participants were 16 women diagnosed with FM currently in a romantic relationship living in North America who participated in a semi-structured interview. Inductive thematic analysis identified four themes: (1) Do I want to have sex? That’s a complicated question; (2) The impact of FM on women’s sexual well-being is not uniform; (3) It’s about more than sex and more than just me; (4) Elements that ameliorate or exacerbate the effect of FM’s on SWB. Together, these results point to the variability and complexity of the effects of FM on women’s sexual well-being. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of assessing and addressing a wide range of aspects of the SWB of women with FM.

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Funding

This research was funded by a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship [Canadian Institutes of Health Research] granted to Dr. Pablo Santos-Iglesias, and two University of New Brunswick Research Funds granted to Dr. Diane L. LaChapelle and Dr. E. Sandra Byers, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

    Pablo Santos-Iglesias, Lyndsay Crump, Diane L. LaChapelle & E. Sandra Byers

  2. Department of Psychology, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS, Canada

    Pablo Santos-Iglesias

  3. The Centre for Innovation and Research in Aging, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

    Justine L. Henry

  4. Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, B1M 1A2, Sydney, NS, Canada

    Pablo Santos-Iglesias

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  1. Pablo Santos-Iglesias
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  2. Lyndsay Crump
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  4. Diane L. LaChapelle
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  5. E. Sandra Byers
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Correspondence to Pablo Santos-Iglesias.

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The study was designed and performed in line with the ethical standards of the Canadian Psychological Association and was approved by the University of New Brunswick Research Ethics Board.

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Santos-Iglesias, P., Crump, L., Henry, J.L. et al. The Sexual Lives of Women Living with Fibromyalgia: A Qualitative Study. Sex Disabil 40, 669–685 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-022-09748-w

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