(181) Female Sexuality During the Menopausal Transition: The Experience of Tunisian women

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The menopausal transition is a gradual passage from pre-menopause to menopause. It is characterized by hormonal changes that affect a woman's reproductive and sexual health. Understanding the impact of the menopausal transition on sexual functioning is important for providing comprehensive care to these women. Objective Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate female sexuality in middle-aged Tunisian women using the female sexual function index (FSFI) Methods This was a descriptive and analytic transversal study, conducted at the Hammam-Lif sexual and reproductive health center over a period of 06 months from February 1st to July 31st, 2022. We included 162 women aged between 40 and 65 years old. We used a validated Arabic version of the Female Sexual Function Index to assess female sexual function. Results The average age of women included in our study was 48.27 years. The majority of questioned women were peri-menopausal, i.e. 40.74%, 35.8% were in pre-menopause and 23.6% were in post-menopause. Moreover, among postmenopausal women, only one patient took hormone replacement therapy. The mean gestity was 3.6 and mean parity was 2.5 in our study population. The majority of women had a gestation greater than or equal to three [0 to 8] and a parity greater than or equal to 2 [0 to 8], i.e. in 80.25% of cases. The mean FSFI score was 18.83 ±7.19, with extremes ranging from 2 to 30.4. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in our study was as high as 88.9 %. The analysis of our results showed a degradation of the FSFI score from perimenopause to postmenopausal: it went from 21.21±6.4 in pre-menopause, to 18.56±7.33 in perimenopause and 15.65±7.11 in postmenopausal. The difference between the three periods was statistically significant (p=0.030). This decline was statistically significant for three domains namely desire (p=0.033), arousal (p=0.047), and orgasm (p<0.01). Conclusions The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction is quite high and tends to increase with age. The role of healthcare professionals is essential in caring for women and helping them overcome sexual health problems that arise during the menopausal transition period. Disclosure No.