The effect of pelvic organ prolapse on sexual function in a general cohort of women.
BACKGROUND
This is a report about the effects of pelvic organ prolapse on sexual function in women.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of pelvic organ prolapse on sexual function in women.


METHODS
The study group consisted of 1,267 sexually active women. Baseline characteristics, medical and obstetric history of the patients were recorded. All women underwent vaginal examination to determine the degree of prolapse by pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POPQ) system. Of 1,267 women, 342 (27.0%) had prolapse stage ≥2.


METHODS
The Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire short form (PISQ-12) scores of the women were recorded.


RESULTS
Women with genital prolapse had lower PISQ-12 scores than women without it. The difference resulted mainly from urinary incontinence during sexual activity, fear of incontinence and avoidance of intercourse due to prolapse. Multivariate analyses showed that genital prolapse was one of the confounding factors for sexual function.


CONCLUSIONS
Pelvic floor dysfunction is a multi-faceted problem because it has both anatomical and functional aspects. Although pelvic organ prolapse had an effect on some aspects of sexuality, it has no effect on certain aspects of sexual function such as orgasm and sexual satisfaction.
Tok
Ekrem C
EC
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey. tokekrem@hotmail.com
Yasa
Osman
O
Ertunc
Devrim
D
Savas
Aysun
A
Durukan
Huseyin
H
Kanik
Arzu
A
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010298:Parity; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse / Q000150:complications*; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires