Nearly 60% of women with systemic sclerosis say disease harms sexual health
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
PHILADELPHIA — Nearly 60% of women with systemic sclerosis reported that their sexuality was negatively impacted by their disease, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2022.
The data come as a result of a newly designed questionnaire that, according to Maria Grazia Lazzaroni, MD, PhD, of the World Scleroderma Foundation, based in Switzerland, has been beneficial in developing physician-patient communication regarding aspects of systemic sclerosis that impact women’s health.
“The impact of systemic sclerosis on women’s health was never specifically evaluated,” Lazzaroni told attendees. “We developed a study in order to systematically and specifically evaluate the impact of scleroderma on women’s health.”
Researchers worked to design an SSc-specific questionnaire that would function via patients self-reporting outcomes. The survey was created by a joint team of rheumatologists and obstetricians-gynecologists, and consists of 70 questions in five sections. For this analysis, the survey was administered to patients with SSc who met the 2013 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria in 2021. In addition, the Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire was administered in tandem. Finally, clinical and laboratory data was obtained from charts, Lazzaroni said.
A total of 100 patients completed the surveys, of whom 40% reported not attending regular gynecological follow-ups. Additionally, 59% of patients reported that their sexuality was negatively impacted by SSc. Notable areas of impact included vaginal dryness, digital ulcers, gastro-intestinal involvement and dyspnea, according to the researchers.
Meanwhile, 73% of patients did not discuss contraceptive options with their rheumatologists and 54% reported wanting a pregnancy after their diagnosis. In patients who reported pregnancies following disease onset, 22 reported 43 pregnancies, resulting in 33 births. These patients reported more cesarean sections and lower birth weights compared with those who reported giving birth before disease onset, according to Lazzaroni.
“We can say that our new questionnaire was instrumental to facilitating communication with patients,” Lazzaroni said.
Collapse
Lazzaroni M. Abstract 1672. Presented at: ACR Convergence 2022; Nov. 11-14, 2022; Philadelphia (hybrid meeting).
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts