Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32990787›Full record

ArticleZeitschrift fur Rheumatologie2021

Sexual dysfunction and its determinants in women with rheumatoid arthritis.

R B Saad, A Fazaa, L Rouached, S Miladi, K Ouenniche, L Souabni, S Kassab, S Chekili, K B Abdelghani, A Laatar

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In one paragraph

Article in Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Family Planning and Rheumatoid Arthritis.Current rheumatology reports · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Beyond Rheumatoid Arthritis Evaluation: What are We Missing?Open access rheumatology : research and reviews · 2021
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

R B SaadRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
A FazaaRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
L RouachedRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia. leila_rouached@hotmail.com.
S MiladiRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
K OuennicheRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
L SouabniRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
S KassabRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
S ChekiliRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
K B AbdelghaniRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
A LaatarRheumatology Department, Mongi Slim Hospital, La Marsa, Tunisia.
Tunis El Manar University · TNHôpital Mongi Slim · TN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo evaluate sexual function in Tunisian women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to examine factors that are predictors of female sexual dysfunction including sociocultural factors, disease activity, and psychological status.

methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study including 71 women with a confirmed diagnosis of RA according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria. Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were collected. The participants were asked to complete the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), which contains 19 questions, assessing six areas of female sexual function in the previous 4 weeks. Sexual dysfunction was defined as an FSFI score less than or equal to 26.55. The psychosocial status was evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. Prevalence of sexual dysfunction and predictors of sexual difficulties were assessed.

resultsThe prevalence of female sexual dysfunction in women with RA was 49.3%. All areas were altered especially desire (2.92 ± 1.3), arousal (3.27 ± 1.5), and orgasm (3.77 ± 1.5). In univariate analysis, sexual dysfunction was correlated with the age of patients (p = 0.049), the age of partners (p = 0.013), pain (p = 0.001), number of night awakenings (p = 0.02), morning stiffness (p = 0.010), tender joints (p = 0.05), disease activity score (DAS28 ESR) (p = 0.043), fatigue (p = 0.028), and Health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) (p = 0.02). In multivariate analysis, the age of patients and pain were predictive factors of sexual dysfunction. By analyzing each area of the FSFI score, the age of patients was the independent variable associated with desire. Tender joints were associated with lubrication and the age of partners with arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction.

conclusionOur study suggests that rheumatoid arthritis has a negative impact on patients' sexuality. Age of patients and partners, pain, and tender joints appear to be the main factors influencing sexual function.

Indexed as

Arthritis, RheumatoidSexual Dysfunction, PhysiologicalCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansOrgasmPainSurveys and QuestionnairesDesireDisease activityInflammationLubricationPsychology

Identifiers

PMID32990787
OpenAlexW3091405247

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.