Sexual satisfaction and associated factors among patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Japan.
Sayaka Wakai, Makoto Tanaka, Momoko Takai and 2 others
PMID 39980253WHAT IT FOUND
Japanese IBD patients gave "somewhat" as the most common sexual satisfaction answer.
Older age, sleep deprivation, lower emotional well-being and fatigue were associated with lower satisfaction, while disease activity was not. A third declined to answer.
Key findings
01Of 492 IBD patients, 319 (64.8%) answered the sexual satisfaction question and 173 (35.2%) preferred not to answer.
02In the sample, 419 patients (86.2%) were in remission, and "somewhat" was the most common sexual satisfaction answer (24.8%).
03Sexual satisfaction was related to age, sleep deprivation, emotional well-being, and fatigue, but not to disease activity, sex, marital status, job status, diagnosis, or disease duration.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample came from one IBD outpatient clinic and was mostly in remission (419, 86.2%); only 67 were active, so the study had limited ability to detect differences related to active disease. 173 patients (35.2%) preferred not to answer the sexual satisfaction question, so their sexual satisfaction was unknown. Sexual satisfaction was measured by one item from a fatigue questionnaire, not by a detailed sexual health assessment. The study did not compare IBD patients with a general population, so it is hard to know how unusual these satisfaction levels are. Self-report surveys can have response bias, especially on sensitive sexual topics. Factors such as perianal disease and body image were not included.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding came from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that IBD disease activity causes sexual dissatisfaction. Disease activity was not significantly associated with sexual satisfaction here, and 35.2% of patients refused the sexual question, so the result may not represent all patients.