Prospective study of 100 infertile couples: does infertility lead to sexual dysfunction

Abstract

Background: There is a correlation between infertility and serious mental, emotional, and social difficulties reported in the literature. Sexual dysfunction (SD) is quite common in both males and females and often are linked with infertility among couples. Aim and objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not there is a correlation between infertility and SD in couples who are having treatment for infertility at an infertility clinic. Materials and methods: Total of 100 couples were included in this study and were given the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ) questionnaire. The data thus obtained were recorded and analyzed using SPSS software. Result: The present study finding indicated that the mean CSFQ score was significantly lower in infertile females compared with the males, indicating that females suffered from SD more. The mean of CSFQ among males was 48.37, and for CSFQ among females; the average was 40.32, which was below the cut-off rate indicating SD is more common in females compared with males. However, our study showed no positive correlation between the lower CSFQ score between both genders with the place of living. As maximum of the study participants were Hindu we have not performed any correlation analysis with religion. Further, this study showed no such differences in duration of the infertility with the CSFQ score. Conclusion: This study thus concluded that SD is more common in infertile couples. The prevalence of SD is more in females compared with males.