Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun 28;13(6):e16006.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.16006. eCollection 2021 Jun.

A Systemic Review on the Association Between Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction Among Women Utilizing Female Sexual Function Index as a Measuring Tool

Okelue E Okobi  1
Affiliations
Review

A Systemic Review on the Association Between Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction Among Women Utilizing Female Sexual Function Index as a Measuring Tool

Okelue E Okobi. Cureus. .

Abstract

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention describes infertility as the inability to conceive after one year or longer with adequate unprotected sex. Infertility affects both females and males, interfering with their everyday lives and significantly impacting their mental health. Sexual dysfunction is defined as an alteration of the sexual response cycle phases, preventing satisfaction during sexual activity. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in the United States is high, with about 10%-52% among men and 25%-63% among women. Different scales can measure sexual satisfaction and double as a tool to diagnose sexual dysfunction. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is the gold standard for diagnosing sexual dysfunction in women. Overall, fertile women had a higher score on the FSFI than infertile women; however, both groups showed sexual dysfunctions even if the fertile group was classified as a mild disorder. The most common disorders were disorders of desire and lubrication. Desire and arousal dysfunction appeared more common in participants with secondary infertility, while lubrication dysfunctions were more common in older participants. In the future, it will be important to evaluate other factors that affect sexual function and fertility including mental health, male health, and couple factors.

Keywords: female factor infertility; female infertility; female sexual function index; infertility; male factor infertility; sexual dysfunction; sexual function; women fsfi.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowsheet for study selection
Figure 2
Figure 2. FSFI scores by study of infertile versus fertile women
FSFI, Female Sexual Function Index
Figure 3
Figure 3. Principal sexual dysfunctions presented across studies
Figure 4
Figure 4. Weighted Mean
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Apr;2021 ];Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm#:%7E:text=A... 2020 7:206–225.
    1. Difference between primary and secondary infertility in Morocco: frequencies and associated factors. Benksim A, Elkhoudri N, Ait Addi R, Baali A, Cherkaoui M. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5936612/ Int J Fertil Steril. 2018;12:142–146. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Infertility definitions and terminology. [Apr;2021 ];World Health Organization. (2019. https://www.who.int/teams/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-research/ar... 2019
    1. Women and infertility in a pronatalist culture: mental health in the slums of Mumbai. Roberts L, Renati S, Solomon S, Montgomery S. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7654515/ Int J Womens Health. 2020;12:993–1003. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Psychological and interpersonal dimensions of sexual function and dysfunction. Brotto L, Atallah S, Johnson-Agbakwu C, et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27045257/ J Sex Med. 2016;13:538–571. - PubMed