The relationship between body mass index, sexual function and quality of life in women of reproductive age in Iran

Abstract

Quality of life (QOL) and sexual function are important variables in the general health of women of reproductive age. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sexual function and QOL. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 482 women of reproductive age referring to women health centers in 2017. The WHO QOL questionnaire and the female sexual function index used as tools. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, post-hoc tests and Pearson correlation coefficient and p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. The mean age of the samples was 31.8 ± 7.64. The results showed that 162 (33.6%) of women had normal BMI, 200 (41.5%) of them were overweight and 120 (24.9%) were obese. Sexual desire (p < 0.001), sexual arousal (p = 0.001), lubrication (p = 0.001), orgasm (p < 0.001) and satisfaction (p = 0.008) decreased with increasing BMI and this reduction was statistically significant. On the other hand, there was a significant negative relationship between all aspects of QOL with BMI (p = 0.001). The present study showed that obesity and weight gain are negative factors for sexual function and women’s QOL, as well as sexual desire, orgasm and marital satisfaction decrease with increasing BMI.

Keywords:

• Body mass index
• quality of life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.