Effect of attitudes towards sexuality on sexual function of pregnant women: A cross-sectional study

This study was conducted to investigate sexual function in pregnant women and attitudes towards sexuality during pregnancy, and to determine the relationship between them and affecting factors.

The sample for this descriptive and cross-sectional study comprised 288 volunteer pregnant women. Data were collected with Personal Information Form, Attitude Scale toward Sexuality during Pregnancy (ASSP), and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI).

Pregnant women had ASSP mean score of 117.28 ± 15.05. This score indicated that pregnant women had a moderately positive atttitude toward sexuality during pregnancy. According to ASSP cut-off points, 66.7 % of pregnant women had positive attitudes to sexuality in pregnancy, and rates of pregnant women with positive attitudes toward sexuality in pregnancy according to trimesters were 57.1 %, 82.1 % and 62.1 %, respectively. The mean FSFI score for pregnant women participating in the study was 16.77 ± 10.87. According to FSFI cut-off points, 76.4 % of pregnant women experienced sexual dysfunction, and the sexual dysfunction rates according to trimester were 85.7 %, 41.8 % and 86.9 %, respectively. There was a positive significant correlation between the ASSP points and FSFI points (p < 0.01). The age of the pregnant women (p = 0.000), number of pregnancies (p = 0.049), and FSFI subscales of desire (p = 0.005), arousal (p = 0.000), lubrication (p = 0.000), orgasm (p = 0.000), and satisfaction (p = 0.000) were predictors for attitudes toward the sexuality of pregnant women.

The results of the study identified that pregnant women in the second trimester had more positive attitudes toward sexuality in pregnancy compared to pregnant women in the first and third trimesters. When pregnant women had more positive attitudes toward sexuality, sexual function problems were identified to reduce.