Quality of sex life and partnership in women affected by endometriosis

This study analyses the quality of sex life and partnership in a sample of italian women affected by endometriosis verifying the hypothesis that women with endometriosis have less sexual and couple satisfaction than healthy women. The Italian version of McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ) was administered to a total sample of 110 Italian women, 55 with endometriosis, EG, and 55 without genital disease, CG, ages 18-45 years (M=30, SD=6), grouped into 3 clusters: 18-29, 30-39 and 40-45 years. A principal component analysis was conducted to verify the two factors structure identified in previous studies. A t test was conducted on both factors scores to assess the differences between groups. As expected, factor analysis indentified 2 factors, sexuality (9 items) and partnership (5 items), with an adequate inter-item reliability (Cronbach's a of .84 and .71 respectively). Women with endometriosis scored significantly lower in sexuality (t=4.59, a<.05) and partnership (t=2.63, a<.05), no significant age differences were found in factors scores. A logistic regression showed that only the sexuality factor significantly predicted the presence of the endometriosis (Wald=10.29, a<.05). According to recent studies, the results indicate that women with endometriosis have less sexual and partnership satisfaction than healthy women. Moreover low sexual satisfaction maybe an indicator of the presence of dyspareunia. Further researches are required to verify these results.