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Fibromyalgia and sexual performance: a cross-sectional study in 726 Brazilian patients

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Abstract

Fibromyalgia (FM) causes generalized musculoskeletal pain and sexual life may also be impaired in these patients. We aimed to study sexual performance in FM patients comparing them with healthy controls and verify if there is association of epidemiological variables, degree of musculoskeletal pain and associated diseases with sexual performance in this group of patients. This is a cross-sectional study based in an internet survey. FM and controls filled a questionnaire on epidemiological data, associated diseases, and musculoskeletal pain. Also answered the validate questionnaires Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the Sexual Quotient-Females (SQ-F) to evaluate the sexual performance. The survey was answered for 1584 individuals: 726 FM patients and 858 paired controls. Sexual performance evaluated by FSFI and by SQ-F was worse in the FM group than controls in all studied domains (all with p < 0.0001). According to SQ-F, 63% of them had a regular to null performance; according to FSFI, 83% had sexual dysfunction. Sexual performance was worse in those on menopause (< 0.0001). A modest correlation of age (rho − 0.09 for SQ-F and − 0.10 for FSFI) and degree of musculoskeletal pain (rho = − 0.21 for SQ-F and − 0.23 for FSFI) with sexual performance indexes were found. Psychiatric illness was also associated with lower SQ-F (p = 0.001). There is a high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in FM that associates with the presence of menopause, psychiatric comorbidities, older age, and high degree of musculoskeletal pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Positivo University, Rua Prof. Pedro Viriato, 5300 zip code, Curitiba, Paraná, 81280-330, Brazil

    Gabrielle Waked Mutti, Manuela de Quadros, Lara Pretto Cremonez, Dhayane Spricigo & Renato Nisihara

  2. Mackenzie Evangelical School of Medicine Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

    Thelma Skare & Renato Nisihara

Authors
  1. Gabrielle Waked Mutti
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  2. Manuela de Quadros
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  3. Lara Pretto Cremonez
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  4. Dhayane Spricigo
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  5. Thelma Skare
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  6. Renato Nisihara
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Contributions

GM, MQ, LC, DS and RN conceived and carried out the study; TS and RN organized and analyzed data. All authors were involved in writing the paper and had final approval of the submitted and published versions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renato Nisihara.

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All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research of Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie de Medicina, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, which can be contacted by the telephone number + 55 (41) 3240-5570 or by e-mail comite.etica@fempar.edu.br.

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The authors claim this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned (and, if relevant, registered) have been explained.

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Mutti, G.W., de Quadros, M., Cremonez, L.P. et al. Fibromyalgia and sexual performance: a cross-sectional study in 726 Brazilian patients. Rheumatol Int 41, 1471–1477 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-021-04837-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-021-04837-z

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