(1)Instituto Paulista de Sexualidade (2)University of São Paulo - Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto
Introduction: Although contraception is prevalent in Brazil (77%), only two methods prevail: hormonal and the female sterilization (FS). In order to investigate the women’s satisfaction with the sterilization, there is a need to understand more about the relationship of sexual function and this procedure. This study objective was to assess the sexual function of women submitted to FS. Methods: A survey of 235 cases (of total 1826) among women sterilized by the public health system in Ribeirão Preto (SP - Brazil) between 2000 and 2004 was carried out. The instrument used was the Sexual Female Function Index (FSFI), adapted for the Brazilian context. Results: The women were 35.9 years old on average and they were sterilized on average at 33.3 years; 89.8% were in marital union, 57.9% self-classified themselves as white and 66.8%, catholic. In general, 32.5% of the women presented index scores with risk for sexual dysfunction measured by FSFI. In the evaluation of the domains separately, women with low scores in the domains orgasm, satisfaction and arousal had above 90% of chance of presenting general score with risk for sexual dysfunction. Conclusion: Considering the cut-off point proposed to define sexual dysfunction for the Female Sexual Function Index, the women's proportion with risk for sexual dysfunction on the present study is consistent with the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction in general population. The domains more related to risk of sexual dysfunction were orgasm, satisfaction and arousal.
