The correlation between sexual dysfunction and intimate partner violence in young women during pregnancy

The Impacts of Lifetime Violence on Women's Current Sexual Health

Background

Intimate partner violence (IPV), nonpartner sexual violence (SV), child sexual and physical abuse, and neglect have detrimental impacts on women's reproductive and sexual health. More empirical studies are needed to investigate the negative impacts of lifetime violence, including physical or sexual child abuse, nonpartner SV, physical, sexual, and psychological IPV on women's sexual health to better understand long-term impacts from IPV and physical or sexual child abuse.

Materials and Methods

We used data from Wellness, Health and You, an ongoing health registry. A total of 1,213 women were included in data analysis. Our aim was to investigate the associations between lifetime IPV, nonpartner SV, child abuse, and women's current sexual health defined using Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures of sexual health (e.g., sexual satisfaction, interest, and functioning), sexual assertiveness, female sexual subjectivity, and use of online resources to address sexual needs. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to investigate demographic factors (e.g., age and current relationship) as potential correlates of current sexual health.

Results

Women with lifetime experiences of physical, sexual, or psychological IPV, nonpartner SV, and child physical or sexual abuse reported lower sexual satisfaction compared to women with no history of lifetime violence (p < 0.0001). However, lifetime violence was not correlated with sexual interest, sexual functioning, sexual subjectivity, nor sexual assertiveness.

Conclusion

Lifetime experiences of violence (i.e., IPV, nonpartner SV, child abuse) are associated with poorer sexual health. Asking questions about past sexual and physical violence/abuse in ways that support disclosure is important toward improving women's physical and sexual health and wellbeing.

The prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in pregnant women and the correlated factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Sexual functions are negatively affected during pregnancy with the emergence of physical, hormonal, mental, emotional, and behavioral changes; however, there is no cumulative knowledge about the global prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) in pregnant women and the correlated factors in SD.

AIM

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of SD among pregnant women and the factors correlated with their SD scores.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies focusing on SD in pregnant women were conducted in the PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Turkish Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Ovid databases by using the following combination of keywords: "pregnant" OR "pregnancy" AND "sexual dysfunction."

OUTCOMES

Nearly 70% of pregnant women were at risk for SD. The age of the pregnant woman, the spouse's age, and the duration of marriage were negatively correlated with the SD score, while the education level was positively correlated with it.

RESULTS

Initially, 5644 studies were identified: 693 studies were evaluated for eligibility and 668 were removed following the exclusion criteria. A total of 25 studies involving 6871 pregnant women were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled SD prevalence in pregnant women was 69.7% (95% CI, 59.9%-77.9%).

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The results of this study can be used in the organization of prenatal care, especially for pregnant women at high risk for SD.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

This meta-analysis is the first to reveal the global prevalence of SD and the factors correlated with SD scores in pregnant women. The most important limitation of this study is that it analyzes documents showing pregnant women at risk for SD according to an unconfirmed measurement tool for pregnant women.

CONCLUSION

Most pregnant women experience SD symptoms. More research is needed, specifically on validated tools that assess pregnancy-specific SD symptoms.

Perspectives on sexual history taking in routine primary care consultations in North West, South Africa: Disconnect between patients and doctors

Background: Sexual history is rarely taken in routine consultations and research reported on common barriers that doctors experience, such as gender, age and cultural differences. This article focuses on how patients and doctors view sexual history taking during a consultation and their perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of sexual history taking.Aim: This study aimed to explore doctors’ and patients’ perspectives on sexual history taking during routine primary care consultations with patients at risk of sexual dysfunction.Setting: The research was conducted in primary care facilities in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda Health District, North West province.Methods: This was part of grounded theory research, involving 151 adult patients living with hypertension and diabetes and 21 doctors they consulted. Following recording of routine consultations, open-ended questions on the demographic questionnaire and brief interactions with patients and doctors were documented and analysed using open inductive coding. The code matrix and relations browsers in MaxQDA software were used.Results: There was a disconnect between patients and doctors regarding their expectations on initiating the discussion on sexual challenges and relational and clinical priorities in the consultation. Patients wanted a doctor who listens. Doctors wanted patients to tell them about sexual dysfunction. Other minor barriers included gender, age and cultural differences and time constraints.Conclusion: A disconnect between patients and doctors caused by the doctors’ perceived clinical priorities and screening expectations inhibited sexual history taking in a routine consultation in primary care.