Assessment of Female Sexual Function in Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Female sexual dysfunction is a frequent problem that may be caused by several factors, such as pregnancy and diabetes, and that can affect the woman's quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess the sexual function of pregnant women with gestational diabetes. This is a cross-sectional clinical study involving 88 women, among which 33 were pregnant with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 55 were with low-risk pregnancy (LRP). Sexual function was assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), a self-applicable questionnaire validated in Portuguese. All the pregnant women answered the questionnaire between the 20th and 25th week of gestation. Data were submitted to descriptive analysis by using the SAS version 9.2 procedure PROC MEANS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA), whereas Student's t-test was applied by using the procedure PROC TTEST (SAS Institute Inc.) at a significance level of ≤5% for all analyses. The percentage of women presenting sexual dysfunction in each group was the following: 66.7% in Group GDM and 38.9% in the Group LRP, with significant difference between the groups (P = 0.03). However, no significant differences were found between the groups regarding sexual desire, excitement, lubrication, and pain. On the total score of FSFI, Group GDM had a score ≤26.55 (P = 0.03). Diabetic pregnant women were found to have a higher incidence of sexual dysfunction as their scores were lower for all FSFI domains compared with LRP females.