Body Mass Index Sexual Function and Quality of Life in Women of Reproductive Age

Backgrounds: Quality of life and sexual function are important variables in the general health of women of reproductive age. On the other hand, study reports that people with high body mass index (BMI) complain of low sexual function and lower quality of life. So the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between BMI and sexual function and quality of life .Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 482 women of reproductive age referring to jahrom women health centers in 2017. The WHO QOL questionnaire and the female sexual function index (FSFI) used as tools. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient and P ≤0.05 was considered significant Result: The mean age of the samples was 31.8 ± 7.64. The results showed that 162 (33.6%) of women had normal BMI and 200 (41.5%) of them were overweight and 120 (24.9%) were obese. Sexual desire (p <0.001), Sexual stimulation (p = 0.001), lubrication (p = 0.001), orgasm (p <0.001) and satisfaction (p = 0.008) decreased with increasing BMI and this reduction was statistically significant. On the other hand, there was a significant negative relationship between all aspects of quality of life with BMI (p <0.001).Conclusion: The present study showed that obesity and weight gain are negative factors for sexual function and women's quality of life, as well as sexual desire, orgasm and marital satisfaction decrease with increasing BMI.