The Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Sexual Dysfunction Among Women: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Sexual function is an important indicator of quality of life, which affects various aspects of women’s health, especially physical health. Although some evidence suggests that people with a greater body mass index experience more sexual dysfunction, this has continually been disputed. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between these concepts more accurately. Methods: A meta-analysis on all published articles until October 2016 was conducted in Scopus, PubMed / Medline, Springer, Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, and Google scholar databases as well as SID and Magiran (Persian databases) using key words such as “Body Mass Index” AND “sexual dysfunction” AND women. Furthermore, the Random effect model was used for statistical pooling. The heterogeneity of studies was evaluated using I2 index. The data analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results: 9 eligible studies were included into the meta-analysis. The pooled results suggested an inverse association between body mass index (BMI) and sexual dysfunction (Pooled Correlation = -0.222; 95% CI, -0.362 - 0.073). Cochran Q index was obtained as 73.574 (P < 0.001) and I2 = 89.12% showed a high heterogeneity among the studies entered the meta-analysis. Conclusion: A weak and inverse relationship was observed between body mass index and sexual dysfunction. It seems the relationship between these variables may be affected by other numerous factors, which requires further investigation to be confirmed.