Prevalence of sexual dysfunction among prenatal women attending the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ghana

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and types of sexual dysfunction in pregnancy.

Methods: A cross-sectional facility-based descriptive study among pregnant women attending the prenatal clinic of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, a large tertiary health facility in Accra, Ghana, from May to June 2018. The inclusion criteria were 18 years or older, singleton pregnancy of 8 gestational weeks or more, and residing with their partner for at least 4 weeks before the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among consecutively enrolled women by using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) tool.

Results: Overall, 425 women were enrolled. The mean age was 30.8 ± 4.8 years. The mean gestational age was 32.3 ± 7.1weeks (range 9.7-42.0 weeks). The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in pregnancy was 64.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 60.3%-69.4%) but only 32 (7.5%) women self-reported sexual problems. The predominant types of sexual disorder were desire disorder (377 [88.7%; 95% CI, 85.3%-91.4%] women) and arousal disorder (320 [75.3%; 95% CI, 71.0%-79.2%]).

Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction in pregnancy was found to be common, but most pregnant women were not aware that they had it.

Keywords: FSFI; Female Sexual Function Index; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Sexual disorders; Sexual dysfunction.