Comparison of sexual function between women with iatrogenic and natural menopause

Introduction

Menopause refers to the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian activity. Studies have shown that menopause has an impact on the life quality of women as well as their sexual function. In this study, we sought to characterise the differences in the sexual function of women with iatrogenic menopause and those with natural menopause.

Methods

Data were collected from 300 women in this study. The Symptom Check List and the Female Sexual Function Index were the main data collection instruments. Forty-eight patients with a Symptom Check List score ≥0.5 were not included in the study. Therefore, we enrolled a cohort of 252 menopausal women at a tertiary care setting in Turkey. The independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation and logistic regression analysis were used in this study and p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

In our study, menopause women were divided into two equal groups based on the type of menopause (natural vs. iatrogenic). The iatrogenic group was further divided into 3 sub-groups; drug-induced 30 (12%), radiotherapy-induced 18 (7%) and surgical 78 (31%). No significant difference in sexual function between groups were observed with respect to mean scores for desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, pain and sexual function (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that sexuality-specific problems during menopause are multifactorial and not solely attributable to biological or psychological factors. Our findings call for comprehensive interventions to address the psychological and biological effects of menopause in order to improve the life quality of women.