Impact of infertility duration on female sexual health

Infertility, an important source of stress, could affect sexual life. Extensive studies suggest that the incidence of sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in infertile women. As the duration of infertility increases, the level of stress is also likely to increase even further, and this could aggravate psychological pain and cause sexual dysfunction. However, the effect of infertility duration on sexual health is unclear.

We conducted a case-control study in which 715 patients participated between September 1,2020 and December 25, 2020. We included patients diagnosed with infertility (aged between 20 to 45), who were divided into four groups according to their infertility durations: ≤ 2 years (Group I, n = 262), > 2 years but ≤ 5 years (Group II, n = 282), > 5 years but ≤ 8 years (Group III, n = 97), and > 8 years (Group IV, n = 74). A questionnaire survey on female sexual functions and psychological depression was administered to participants, and their female sexual functions and depression status were measured using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), respectively.

As the number of years of infertility increased, the PHQ-9 score as well as the incidence of psychological depression increased significantly (p < 0.05), but the total score of FSFI and those of its six domains/sub-scales were not significantly different among the four groups. An analysis of the relevant factors affecting sexual functions, using the multivariable logistic regression model, revealed that when the infertility duration was greater than 8 years, there was a significant increase in the incidence of sexual dysfunction [adjusted odds ratios (AOR) = 5.158, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.935–13.746, P = 0.001], arousal disorder (AOR = 2.955, 95% CI: 1.194–7.314, P = 0.019), coital pain (AOR = 3.811, 95% CI: 1.045–13.897, P = 0.043), and lubrication disorder (AOR = 5.077, 95% CI: 1.340–19.244, P = 0.017).

An increasing infertility duration is a risk factor for the occurrence of sexual dysfunction. Hence, as the infertility duration increases, the incidence of female sexual dysfunction and psychological distress could also increase, especially when the infertility duration is more than 8 years.