Quality of Life and Sexual Function in Women with Sexually Transmitted Infections/Reproductive Tract Infections: A Hospital-Based Study

Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the quality of life (QOL) and the sexual function in women with sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Materials and Methods: A total of 60, females aged 18-45 years with symptoms of STIs/RTIs of more than 1-month duration were enrolled over a period of 1 year along with 60 healthy controls. The world health organization quality of life brief version (WHO)-QOL-BREF questionnaire and female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaire were used to assess the QOL and sexual function in all the subjects. Results: Majority of the patients were diagnosed as candidal vulvovaginitis ( n = 20, 33.33%), followed by bacterial vaginosis (16.67%). The mean scores (both WHO-QOL-BREF and FSFI scores) for all the domains as well as overall scores were higher in the control group as compared to the cases ( P = 0.001). Both WHO-QOL-BREF scores and FSFI scores were lowest in mixed infection group (genital molluscum contagiosum and herpes genitalis). Conclusion: As both QOL and sexual function are adversely affected in women having STIs/RTIs, it should be an important part of patient management. A larger community-based study is required to confirm our findings so as to use QOL and female sexual function measures, in addition to other measures, in studies conducted to evaluate various treatment modalities in chronic and recurrent STIs/RTIs.