Prevalence and risk factors of sexual dysfunction in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Sexual dysfunction (SD) is increasingly identified in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but there are few systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the studies of SD in IBD patients. The purpose of the study is to further quantify the association between IBD and SD. Methods: MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), and the Cochrane Library (OVID) were searched (until August 2020) to identify observational studies that reported the prevalence and risk factors of SD in IBD patients. Pooled prevalence, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. Results: Of the 945 citations evaluated, 18 studies (including 36,676 subjects) reporting the prevalence of SD in the IBD population were included for analysis. The overall pooled prevalence was 39% (95% CI 37–40%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of SD in women was 53% (95% CI 50–55%, P < 0.001), and it was 27% (95% CI 25–29%, P < 0.001) in men. The prevalence was higher in conjunction with operation (OR, 1.33, 95% CI 1.22–1.45, P < 0.001), depression (OR 6.14, 95% CI 3.51–10.76, P < 0.001), disease activity (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.32–5.64, P = 0.007), comorbidities (OR 3.21, 95% CI 2.06–5.00, P < 0.001), age < 50 years (OR 3.85, 95% CI 2.41–6.14, P < 0.001), and the need for corticosteroids (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.48–4.66, P = 0.001). Conclusion: SD occurred frequently in the IBD population. Operation, depression, disease activity, comorbidities, age < 50 years, and the need for corticosteroids were risk factors for SD in IBD patients. SD screening might be recommended in IBD patients with the aforementioned factors.