Covid-19 quarantine dramatically affected sexual behavior: is there a possibility to go back to normality?

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of quarantine in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients on sexual functions (SF) and consequences regarding post-infection sexuality. METHODS: We performed a monocentric longitudinal study of sexually active patients, from May 2020 to October 2020, with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed with a nasopharyngeal reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The study was conducted via email by a single urologist. Baseline characteristics were recorded. The study period was divided in 4 subperiods: before getting tested (T1), during quarantine (T2), 1 month after negative test (T3) and 3 months after negative test (T4). All participants were invited to complete these questionnaires: Sexual Distress Schedule (SDS), International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire (IIE-F) and two internal made questionnaires of 10 and 6-items. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the impact of quarantine on SF during and after the SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: A total of 22 male patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 63 (IQR: 58.2-67.0) years and the median Charlson score was 3 (IQR 1–4). Of all, 9 (40.9%) patients were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a median length of stay (LOS) of 10 days (IQR: 8-13). The differences for both SDS/IIEF scores, between T1-T2 and T2-T3, were statistically significant (p<0.001) and the mean number of SF decreased significantly during T2 and returned to normal in T4. In 20 patients (90.9%), SARS-CoV-2 had a huge impact on relationship and sexual life, but no patient attended a clinic for sexual difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Quarantine have negatively influenced SF in infected patients, but 3 months after the RT-PCR negative test, a promising return to the pre-infection SF values is observed. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term sexual outcome in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: The authors reported no conflict of interest.