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Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype

PURPOSE: To study sexual function and distress in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) compared to women with FHA and an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype, considering also their psychometric variables. As a secondary aim, we explored the relationship between sexua...

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Autores principales: Barbagallo, F., Pedrielli, G., Bosoni, D., Tiranini, L., Cucinella, L., Calogero, A. E., Facchinetti, F., Nappi, R. E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10348938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36735200
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02021-7
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author Barbagallo, F.
Pedrielli, G.
Bosoni, D.
Tiranini, L.
Cucinella, L.
Calogero, A. E.
Facchinetti, F.
Nappi, R. E.
author_facet Barbagallo, F.
Pedrielli, G.
Bosoni, D.
Tiranini, L.
Cucinella, L.
Calogero, A. E.
Facchinetti, F.
Nappi, R. E.
author_sort Barbagallo, F.
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: To study sexual function and distress in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) compared to women with FHA and an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype, considering also their psychometric variables. As a secondary aim, we explored the relationship between sexual functioning and hormonal milieu in these women. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted on 36 women with typical FHA and 43 women with FHA + PCOS-phenotype. The following validated psychometric questionnaires were administered: Female Sexual Functional Index (FSFI), Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (FSDS-R), Body Attitude Test (BAT), Bulimia Investigation Test (BITE), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS). Available hormones to formulate FHA diagnosis in the standard routine were considered. RESULTS: Women with typical FHA reported a significantly lower FSFI total score than women with FHA + PCOS-phenotype (95% CI for median 16–21.3 vs. 21.1–24.1, p = 0.002), whereas the FSDS-R score was similar in the two groups (95% CI for median 6–16 vs. 6–16.3). No statistically significant differences were evident in body attitude, state and trait anxiety, depression, bulimic risk, and perfectionism between the two groups, confirming the two FHA groups were superimposable from a psychometric perspective. State anxiety correlated negatively with the FSFI total score in both typical FHA (rho: − 0.33, p = 0.05) and FHA + PCOS-phenotype (rho: − 0.40, p = 0.009). In the entire study population, a positive correlation was found between luteinizing hormone, androstenedione, and 17ß-estradiol and the total FSFI score (rho: 0.28, p = 0.01; rho: 0.27, p = 0.01, rho: 0.27, p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Women with FHA showed a very high rate of sexual symptoms as part of their condition, but those with a typical diagnosis displayed a more severe sexual impairment as compared with the FHA + PCOS-phenotype, in spite of a similar psychometric profile. Sexual distress was equally present in both groups (approximately 4 out of 10 women). Further studies should be designed to investigate the potential role of sex hormones, mainly LH-driven androstenedione, in influencing women’s sexual functioning. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40618-023-02021-7.
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spelling pubmed-103489382023-07-16 Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype Barbagallo, F. Pedrielli, G. Bosoni, D. Tiranini, L. Cucinella, L. Calogero, A. E. Facchinetti, F. Nappi, R. E. J Endocrinol Invest Original Article PURPOSE: To study sexual function and distress in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) compared to women with FHA and an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype, considering also their psychometric variables. As a secondary aim, we explored the relationship between sexual functioning and hormonal milieu in these women. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted on 36 women with typical FHA and 43 women with FHA + PCOS-phenotype. The following validated psychometric questionnaires were administered: Female Sexual Functional Index (FSFI), Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (FSDS-R), Body Attitude Test (BAT), Bulimia Investigation Test (BITE), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS). Available hormones to formulate FHA diagnosis in the standard routine were considered. RESULTS: Women with typical FHA reported a significantly lower FSFI total score than women with FHA + PCOS-phenotype (95% CI for median 16–21.3 vs. 21.1–24.1, p = 0.002), whereas the FSDS-R score was similar in the two groups (95% CI for median 6–16 vs. 6–16.3). No statistically significant differences were evident in body attitude, state and trait anxiety, depression, bulimic risk, and perfectionism between the two groups, confirming the two FHA groups were superimposable from a psychometric perspective. State anxiety correlated negatively with the FSFI total score in both typical FHA (rho: − 0.33, p = 0.05) and FHA + PCOS-phenotype (rho: − 0.40, p = 0.009). In the entire study population, a positive correlation was found between luteinizing hormone, androstenedione, and 17ß-estradiol and the total FSFI score (rho: 0.28, p = 0.01; rho: 0.27, p = 0.01, rho: 0.27, p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Women with FHA showed a very high rate of sexual symptoms as part of their condition, but those with a typical diagnosis displayed a more severe sexual impairment as compared with the FHA + PCOS-phenotype, in spite of a similar psychometric profile. Sexual distress was equally present in both groups (approximately 4 out of 10 women). Further studies should be designed to investigate the potential role of sex hormones, mainly LH-driven androstenedione, in influencing women’s sexual functioning. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40618-023-02021-7. Springer International Publishing 2023-02-03 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC10348938/ /pubmed/36735200 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02021-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Article
Barbagallo, F.
Pedrielli, G.
Bosoni, D.
Tiranini, L.
Cucinella, L.
Calogero, A. E.
Facchinetti, F.
Nappi, R. E.
Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title_full Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title_fullStr Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title_full_unstemmed Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title_short Sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-phenotype
title_sort sexual functioning in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: exploring the relevance of an underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos)-phenotype
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10348938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36735200
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02021-7
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