Sexual Dysfunction in Women With Multiple Sclerosis: Expectations Regarding Treatment and Information, and Utility of the SEA-MS-F Questionnaire

Schreiber-Bontemps Audrey; Roquet Marion; Médée Béatrice; Verdun Stéphane; Hubeaux Katelyne

doi:10.1016/j.esxm.2022.100502

Sexual Dysfunction in Women With Multiple Sclerosis: Expectations Regarding Treatment and Information, and Utility of the SEA-MS-F Questionnaire

Sex Med. 2022 Jun;10(3):100502. doi: 10.1016/j.esxm.2022.100502. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Authors

Schreiber-Bontemps Audrey¹, Roquet Marion², Médée Béatrice³, Verdun Stéphane⁴, Hubeaux Katelyne²

Affiliations

¹ Services de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation et Explorations fonctionnelles, CHRU de Brest, Brest, France. Electronic address: schreiberaudrey@yahoo.fr.
² Services de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation et Explorations fonctionnelles, Centre de Perharidy, Fondation Ildys Roscoff, Roscoff, France.
³ Services de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation et Explorations fonctionnelles, CHRU de Brest, Brest, France.
⁴ Biostatisticien, équipe de Délégation à la Recherche Clinique et à l'Innovation, Groupement des Hôpitaux de l'Institut Catholique de Lille & réseau coopératif de recherche en SSR FEHAP, Lille, France.

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual dysfunction is a common complaint in female with multiple sclerosis (MS), however this problem is not often considered in the medical and psychological care.

Aim: To evaluate expectations regarding treatment and information for sexual dysfunction in women with multiple sclerosis using the SEA-MS-F (Sexual Dysfunction Management and Expectations Assessment in Multiple sclerosis - Female) questionnaire, and to gain an understanding of the relationship between their expectations, demographic factors and medical factors known to promote sexual dysfunction.

Methods: A prospective epidemiological, descriptive, analytical, multicentre study was carried out over 15 months on adult women suffering from MS. The SEA-MS-F was used to evaluate expectations regarding their sexuality and sexual activity.

Main outcome: Measure 87 women were included. Mean age was 47 years and the mean time since MS diagnosis was 14 years.

Results: 59.8% reported sexual dysfunction, but only 22.4% of the participants had raised the subject with a professional. With regards to expectations, 68% of the women wanted information about sexual dysfunction and 80% of women with sexual difficulties wanted treatment. High expectations correlated with the presence of sexual dysfunction, a regular sexual partner and with milder ambulatory handicap. There were no correlations between expectations and age, time since MS diagnosis, fatigue or being postmenopausal. The SEA-MS-F questionnaire was perceived as useful by 63.4% of the women and 90% felt that it could help doctors to treat sexual dysfunction.

Conclusion: To date, the SEA-MS-F is the only questionnaire validated in women with MS for the evaluation of sexual expectations and in the present study the women felt strongly that it represented a useful way for them to introduce and then discuss the subject of their sexual dysfunction with their doctor. Audrey S-B, Marion R, Béatrice M, et al. Sexual Dysfunction in Women With Multiple Sclerosis: Expectations Regarding Treatment and Information, and Utility of the SEA-MS-F Questionnaire. Sex Med 2022;10:100502.

Keywords: Expectations; Multiple Sclerosis; Questionnaire SEA-MS-F; Sexual Dysfunction; Women.