Validation of the Female Sexual Function Index in Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain

Abstract

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common gynecological problem that is also associated with sexual dysfunction. The purpose of this research was to investigate the validity and reliability of Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) in women with CPP. One hundred women with CPP and 100 age-matched subjects without CPP were compared in the study. Sexual function was assessed by FSFI. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha values = 0.91-0.97) was high for all scales. There were significant differences between women with and without CPP for each of the FSFI domain and total scores with very large effect sizes (1.29-2.56) (P < 0.0001, for all). Interdomain correlations of FSFI in the CPP group corresponded well to each other (P < 0.0001, for all). Moreover, test-retest reliability (r = 0.79-0.90) was also within acceptable ranges for this population. We concluded that the FSFI showed good ability to discriminate between women with and without sexual dysfunctions in the CPP population.