Sexual Function in Levothyroxine-Treated Hypothyroid Women and Women without Hypothyroidism: A Case-Control

Background: Levothyroxine is the most common treatment to normalize thyroid hormones levels and to reduce primary hypothyroidism symptoms. Aim: To assess sexual function in women with levothyroxine-treated hypothyroidism and women without hypothyroidism. Methods: A case-control study was performed w...

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Veröffentlicht in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-06, Vol.17 (12), p.4325
Hauptverfasser: Romero-Gómez, Benjamín, Guerrero-Alonso, Paula, Carmona-Torres, Juan Manuel, Laredo-Aguilera, José Alberto, Pozuelo-Carrascosa, Diana Patricia, Cobo-Cuenca, Ana Isabel
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Background: Levothyroxine is the most common treatment to normalize thyroid hormones levels and to reduce primary hypothyroidism symptoms. Aim: To assess sexual function in women with levothyroxine-treated hypothyroidism and women without hypothyroidism. Methods: A case-control study was performed with 152 women with levothyroxine-treated hypothyroidism and 238 women without hypothyroidism. An online survey was used to collect socio-demographic data and the answers to the Women Sexual Function (WSF) questionnaire. Results: Women with levothyroxine-treated hypothyroidism showed a higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction than women in the control group (31.60% vs. 16.40%), furthermore the presence of hypothyroidism increased the risk of sexual dysfunction (p = 0.002, OR: 2.29 (1.36−3.88)). The most affected domains were ‘desire’ (p < 0.001), ‘arousal’ (p = 0.003) and ‘penetration pain’ (p = 0.020). In hypothyroid women, age increased the risk of sexual dysfunctions (p = 0.009, OR: 1.07 (1.01−1.12)), however when age was adjusted (ANCOVA) the sexual dysfunction remained in women with hypothyroidism in all domains. Conclusions: Hypothyroidism is associated with an increase in the prevalence of sexual dysfunction even if treated with levothyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels are normalized. Relevance to clinical practice: Sexual function in hypothyroid women should be assessed before and after starting the treatment.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17124325