The relationship between body mass index and sexual function in infertile women: A cross-sectional survey

Background: Infertility as the bitterest life experience can affect sexual function. Many studies have shown agitation, depression, marital dissatisfaction, and sexual dysfunction as the psychological outcomes resulting from infertility. Many factors, including body mass index, influence the female sexual function. Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction and the relationship between sexual function and body mass index in the Iranian infertile women who had attended the infertility clinic. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 502 infertile women who had attended Honoree clinic, Jahrom in Iran between April 2012 and December 2012. The infertile cases were classified into three groups according to the body mass index: 20-24.9 (Group I), 25-29.9 (Group II), and >29.9 and above (Group III). In addition, Female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaire was used in order to assess the sexual problems. Finally, the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Student’s t-test. Results: The mean age of women was 30.95±6.80 years. The results showed that 430 subjects (87.1%) had sexual dysfunction. Furthermore, the rate of sexual dysfunction among the infertile women was reported as 23.30%, 31.47%, and 45.23% in groups I, II, and III, respectively. Considering body mass index, FSFI score was 21.65±1.70 in the women with normal weight, 18.08±1.52 in overweight women, and 12.21±3.62 in obese women and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was quite high in infertile women, which might be due to the lack of knowledge about marital issues and lack of training in the society. If body mass index is too high, it can have a great effect on fertility. In this study, being overweight and obese based on body mass index had a negative effect on the infertile woman’s sexual function.