Musculoskeletal Pelvic Pain and Sexual Function in the First Year After Childbirth

To characterize sexual function in women with and without musculoskeletal pelvic pain during the first year after childbirth.

Cross-sectional descriptive study.

Outpatient women's health clinic in a Midwestern U.S. academic medical center.

Women who gave birth to singleton infants within the past year.

Women were recruited from various outpatient settings. We obtained baseline demographic variables and used selected components from the Wilson and Cleary Health-Related Quality of Life model. Participants completed questionnaires related to sexual health, pain symptoms, and general quality of life. They were asked to indicate their pain on a pain diagram and to quantify it with the use of a numeric rating scale (NRS). Examiners used validated examination techniques to assess pelvic floor muscle tenderness, strength, and pelvic girdle pain. Participants who reported pelvic pain and had at least one positive physical examination finding were classified in the pain group.

Forty-five participants completed the study, and 20 participants were in the pain group. Most participants with pain had pelvic girdle pain (n = 15) and pelvic floor myofascial pain (n = 20). Participants with pain reported less sexual satisfaction (t[43] = 2.84, p = .007) and reduced quality of life (t[36] = 5.25, p < .001) compared with participants without pain.

Participants who experienced musculoskeletal pelvic pain in the first year after childbirth were significantly more likely to report problems with sexual function compared with their counterparts without pain.