A study of the main determinants of sexual dysfunction in women aged 15-45 years on chronic hemodialysis.

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a common problem in patients with the end-stage renal disease. In contrast to SD in males, relatively little work has been performed in the field of SD in females. In this study, we tried to identify the main determinants of SD in women aged 15-45year-old on chronic hemodialysis (HD). One hundred-forty female patients aged 15-45-year-old on chronic HD were studied in the winter of the year 2013. Healthy relatives of the patients were chosen as controls and matched for age, level of education, marital status, and income. Both cases and controls were interviewed by the same female interviewer. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) was used as a questionnaire. A significant correlation was found between the total ASEX score and age and duration on HD (r = 0.599, P = 0.003 and r = 0.434, P = 0.043, respectively). No correlation was found between serum hemoglobin, parathormone, creatinine, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and urea reduction ratio and the ASEX score. Moreover, the correlation between the ASEX score and socioeconomic parameters like level of education and monthly income was not significant (all P >0.1). There was a significant difference in the total ASEX score between cases and controls (16.31 ± 2.50 vs. 9.80 ± 4.21, P <0.001). Our study suggests that sexual function in chronic hemodialyzed female patients is mainly impacted by age and duration on HD.