Sexual disorders and chronic inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and disabling disease. The lived experience of these diseases can be marked by psychological disturbances and alteration of different dimensions of quality of life, including sexual. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF15) scale was used to assess male sexual function, the FemalesexualFunction Index (FSFI) scale to assess female sexual function, and the Hospital Anxiety and DepressionScale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depressive symptoms.In our study, the prevalence of male DS was estimated to be 50%, whereas that of female DS was estimated to be 65%. This impairment of sexual function was significantly more frequent in IBD patients than in the general population. Our comparative study highlighted the frequency and multifactorial origin of sexual dysfunction (SD) in IBD patients. Hence the need for a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach to screening, evaluation and treatment of SD, allowing an improvement of the quality of life