Abstract
Sexuality is an important part of healthy life. Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may be vulnerable to sexual problems because of disease activity and comorbid emotional problems. However, sexuality is a scarcely studied subject in AS. The aim of this study is to compare patients with AS with healthy control. A total of 43 male patients, who referred to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of the Karadeniz Technical University Farabi Hospital between May 2010 and July 2010, and were diagnosed as AS according to modified New York criteria, were included in the study. Control group consisted of healthy 43 age- and sex-matched male individuals with normal inflammatory levels. The AS patients were compared in means of sociodemographic variables and sexual function with Glombok–Rust Sexual Satisfaction Scale (GRSSS) and clinical interview. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used to determine anxiety and depression levels, respectively. The disease activity and functional conditions were evaluated with the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDI). A total of 43 patients with AS and 43 healthy heterosexual male were included in the study. The total GRSSS score was significantly higher in patients with AS, whereas they also had significantly higher sexual complaint than healthy control. The diagnosis of sexual dysfunction according to DSM-IV was significantly higher in the patients with AS as well as depression and anxiety. In study group, GRSSS total score was modestly correlated with disease activity. The psychological status had close relation with sexual functions in AS. Overall assessment is required for complete evaluation in patients with AS.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Association for Sexual Health. (2005) Working definitions after WHO technical consultation on sexual health. http://www.worldsexualhealth.org/who_def.asp.
Nusbaum MRH, Hamilton C, Lenahan P . Chronic illness and sexual functioning. Am Fam Physician 2003; 67: 347–354.
Pitts M (1996). Sexual health: The Psychology of Preventative Health. Routledge: London.
Van der Linden S . Anklylosing spondylitis. In: Kelley N, Ruddy S, Haris E, Sledge C (eds). Textbook of Rheumatology. WB Saunders Company: Philadelphia, 1997; pp. 969–982.
Tristano AG . The impact of rheumatic diseases on sexual function. Rheumatol Int 2009; 29: 853–860.
Elst P, Sybesma T, van der Stadt RJ, Prins APA, Hissink Muller W, den Butter A . Sexual problems in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Arthritis Rheum 1984; 27: 217–220.
Pirildar T, Muezzinoglu T, Pirildar S . Sexual function in ankylosing spondylitis: a study of 65 men. J Urol 2004; 171: 1598–1600.
Dincer U, Cakar E, Kiralp MZ, Dursun H . Assessment of sexual dysfunction in male patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Rheumatol Int 2007; 27: 561–566.
Cakar E, Dincer U, Kiralp MZ, Taskaynatan MA, Yasar E, Bayman EO et al. Sexual problems in male ankylosing spondylitis patients: relationship with functionality, disease activity, quality of life, and emotional status. Clin Rheumatol 2007; 26: 1607–1613.
Parish KL . Sexuality and haemophilia: connections across the life-span. Haemophilia 2002; 8: 353–359.
Verschuren JE, Enzlin P, Dijkstra PU, Geertzen JH, Dekker R . Chronic disease and sexuality: a generic conceptual framework. J Sex Res 2010; 47: 153–170.
Van der Linden S, Valkenburg HA, Cats A . Evaluation of diagnosis criteria for ankylosing spondylitis. A proposal for modification of the New York criteria. Arthritis Rheum 1984; 27: 361–368.
Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G, Steer RA . An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. J Consult Clin Psychol 1988; 56: 893–897.
Ulusoy M, Sahin N, Erkman H . Turkish version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory: psychometric properties. J Cogn Psychother: Int Quaterly 1998; 12: 28–35.
Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Mock J, Erbaugh J . An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1961; 4: 561–571.
Hisli N . Beck Depresyon Envanterinin üniversite ö∂rencileri için geçerlili∂i ve güvenirlili∂i. Psikoloji Dergisi 1989; 7: 3–13.
Rust J, Golombok S . The Handbook of the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction. City Press: Glasgow, 1983.
Rust J, Golombok S . The Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS). Br J Clin Psychol 1985; 24: 63–64.
Tuǧrul C, ztan N, Kabakçỳ E . Golombok-Rust Cinsel Doyum Ölçe∂i’nin standardizasyon çalỳþmasỳ. Turk Psikiyatr Derg 1993; 4: 83–88.
Karatepe AG, Akkoc Y, Akar S, Kirazli Y, Akkoc N . The Turkish versions of the bath ankylosing spondylitis and dougados functional ỳndices: reliability and validity. Rheumatol Int 2005; 25: 612–618.
Yanik B, Gürsel YK, Kutlay SA, Elhan AH . Adaptation of the bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index to the Turkish population, its reliability and validity: functional assessment in AS. Clin Rheumatol 2005; 24: 41–47.
Jenkinson TR, Mallorie PA, Whitelock H, Kennedy LG, Garrett SL, Calin A . Defining spinal mobility in ankylosing spondylitis: the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index. J Rheumatol 1994; 2: 1694–1698.
Basson R, Rees P, Wang R, Montejo AL, Incrocci L . Sexual function in Chronic Illness. J Sex Med 2010; 7 (Part 2): 374–388.
Ozgül A, Peker F, Taskaynatan MA, Tan AK, Dinçer K, Kalyon TA . Effect of ankylosing spondylitis on health-related quality of life and different aspects of social life in young patients. Clin Rheumatol 2006; 25: 168–174.
Peker F, Ta°kaynatan MA, zgül A, Kalyon TA . Ankilozan Spondilitin Cinsel ve Çalỳþma Yaþamỳna Etkisi 2006; 21: 100–104.
Braun J, Pham T, Sieper J, Davis J, van der Lindan SJ . International ASAS consensus statement for the use of anti-tumour necrosis factor agents in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis 2003; 62: 817–824.
Gorman JD, Sack KE, Davis Jr JC . Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis by inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha. N Engl J Med 2002; 346: 1349–1356.
Healey EL, Haywood KL, Jordan KP, Garratt AM, Ryan S, Packham JC . Ankylosing spondylitis and its impact on sexual relationships. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2009; 48: 1378–1381.
Bal S, Bal K, Turan Y, Deniz G, Gürgan A, Berkit IK et al. Sexual functions in ankylosing spondylitis. Rheumatol Int 2010; 31: 889–894.
Montague DK, Jarow J, Broderick GA, Dmochowski RR, Heaton JP, Lue TF et al. AUA guideline on the pharmacologic management of premature ejaculation. J Urol 2004; 172: 290–294.
Rosen RC . Prevalence and risk factors of sexual dysfunction in men and women. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2000; 2: 189–195.
Yilmaz E, Esra Zeytinci I, Sarỳ S, Fatih Karababa I, Sava° Cilli A, Kucur R . Investigation of sexual problems in married people living in the center of Konya. Turk Psikiyatri Derg 2010; Summer 21: 126–134.
Carson C, Gunn K . Premature ejaculation: definition and prevalence. Int J Impot Res 2006; 18: S5–S13.
Akkus E, Kadioglu A, Esen A, Doran S, Ergen A, Anafarta K, Hattat H . Prevalence and correlates of erectile dysfunction in Turkey: a population-based study. Eur Urol 2002; 41: 298–304.
Dunn KM, Croft PR, Hackett GI . Association of sexual problems with social, psychological, and physical problems in men and women: a cross sectional population survey. J Epidemiol Commun Health 1999; 53: 144–148.
Dowell AC, Biran LA . Problems in using the hospital anxiety and depression scale for screening patients in general practice. Br J Gen Pract 1990; 40: 27–28.
Laumann EO, Gagnon JH, Michael RT, Michaels S . The Social Organization of Sexuality. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1994.
Feldman HA, Goldstein I, Hatzichristou DG, Krane RJ, McKinlay JB . Impotence and its medical and psychosocial correlates: results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. J Urol 1994; 151: 54–61.
Rosen MP, Greenfield AJ, Walker TG, Grant P, Dubrow J, Bettmann MA . Cigarette smoking: an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis in thehypogastric-cavernous arterial bed of men with arteriogenic impotence. J Urol 1991; 145: 759–763.
Bornman MS, Du Plessis DJ . Smoking and vascular impotence: a reason for concern. S Afr Med J 1986; 70: 329–330.
Blanker MH, Bohnen AM, Groeneveld FPMJ, Bernsen RMD, Prins A, Thomas S . Correlates for erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction in older Dutch men. A Community-Based Study JAGS 2001; 49: 436–442.
Kaplan HS . The New Sex Therapy: Active Treatment of Sexual Dysfunctions. Brunner/Mazel: New York, 1974.
Spiess WF, Geer JH, O’Donohue WT . Premature ejaculation: investigation of factors in ejaculatory latency. J Abnorm Psychol 1984; 93: 242–245.
McCullough AR, Bull S . Relationship of self-diagnosed premature ejaculation to other indicators of male sexual function. J Urol–AUA Annu Meeting 2004; 171: 233–234.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Özkorumak, E., Karkucak, M., Civil, F. et al. Sexual function in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Int J Impot Res 23, 262–267 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2011.37
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2011.37
- Springer Nature Limited