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Volume 21, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 1573-398X
  • E-ISSN: 1875-6387

Abstract

Background

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory airway disease. Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is frequently seen in asthmatics but often unnoticed in clinical practice. This study evaluated the associations between asthma disease characteristics and FSD.

Methods

A total of 73 female asthma patients who visited the chest department outpatient clinic and age-matched 73 healthy controls were enrolled. All the participants completed the questionnaires: female sexual function index (FSFI), BECK depression, and BECK anxiety inventory, and underwent pulmonary function tests. Patients with asthma completed an asthma quality of life questionnaire (AQLQ) and asthma control test (ACT). FSD risk factors were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.

Results

About 68.8% of asthmatics had female sexual dysfunction. BECK anxiety and FSFI scores with all six subsets were statistically significantly lower than healthy individuals in asthmatics ( < 0.001). CRP levels, BECK anxiety, and depression scores had inverse (r = -0.386 r = -0.343 r = -0.286), and FEV% had a positive correlation with FSFI total scores. About 37.5% of asthma patients with FSD were current smokers, the most compromised domain of the FSFI scale was sexual arousal with a mean of 2.94 ± 0.56 and their FEV% was lower, and CRP was higher than the asthma patients without FSD ( < 0.001, < 0.021). Smoking, high levels of CRP and BECK anxiety scores, and low FEV% were found to be risk factors for FSD in regression analysis.

Conclusions

Female sexual dysfunction is frequently present in asthma patients. Smokers, patients who have anxiety, lower FEV% predicted values, and higher CRP levels tend to be susceptible to sexual dysfunction, which implicates inflammation as an underlying mechanism.

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2024-09-10
2025-06-30

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Sexual Dysfunction in Women with Asthma and Associated Factors
Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews 21, 208 (2025); https://doi.org/10.2174/011573398X305451240823054024
/content/journals/crmr/10.2174/011573398X305451240823054024
/content/journals/crmr/10.2174/011573398X305451240823054024
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  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keyword(s): airway hyperresponsiveness; anxiety; asthma; inflammation; pulmonary functions; Sexual dysfunction; smoking

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