Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effects of demographic and obstetric variables with body image on sexual dysfunction in pregnant women.
Background: Sexual dysfunction is frequent in pregnant women. To what extent body image plays a role is incompletely understood.
Methods: In the research, a cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted. A personal information form, body image scale, and female sexual function index were applied to 472 pregnant women. Descriptive statistics, the Student t-test, the χ2 test, and logistic regression analysis were employed for evaluating the data.
Results: Sexual dysfunction was found in 54.7%. The frequency of sexual dysfunction in the first trimester was lower. In addition, factors like the place of residence of the pregnant women and number of pregnancies were found to be related to sexual dysfunction in pregnant women. Each unit decrease in body image score resulted in women being 0.98 times more likely to experience sexual dysfunction.
Conclusion: It was determined that approximately one in two pregnant women experienced sexual dysfunction, and body image, place of residence, trimester of the pregnancy, and number of pregnancies were important factors affecting sexual function.
Keywords: body image; nursing; pregnancy; sexual dysfunction.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.