NAFLD may cause sexual dysfunction in premenopausal women

The presence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can impair the sexual function of premenopausal women, suggests a study in Egypt.

In this study, researchers categorized sexually active married premenopausal women who visited an outpatient screening clinic between 2019 and 2022 into NAFLD and non-NAFLD (control) groups based on liver ultrasound and fatty liver index data. All participants completed the Arabic Female Sexual Function Index (ArFSFI) questionnaire.

Data obtained from the responses were used to calculate the domains and total scores. Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) was then classified as no FSD (≥28.2), minimal (21.7−28.1), mild (14.5−21.6), moderate (7.3−14.4), or severe (≤7.2).

In total, 995 women had available FSFI scores. Of these, 487 (48.9 percent) had NAFLD and 508 (51.1 percent) had no NAFLD. Both cohorts were similar in age, socioeconomic level, residence, and history of female genital cutting.

Women with NAFLD showed significantly lower mean scores for the following FSFI domains: sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain (p<0.001 for all). No statistical difference was seen in the desire domain between women with NAFLD and controls.

The NAFLD group also had significantly lower mean total FSFI scores (mean 16.7 vs 21.7; p<0.001) and higher rates of FSD (98.5 percent vs 82.1 percent; p<0.001) than the control group.

In addition, most women with NAFLD exhibited higher FSD grades than those without NAFLD: no FSD (1.5 percent vs 17.9 percent), minimal (20.6 percent vs 51.8 percent), mild (42.5 percent vs 38.8 percent), moderate (26.2 percent vs 9.4 percent), and severe (10.7 percent vs none).

“Given the high prevalence of FSD in patients with NAFLD, greater attention to female sexual function could improve the quality of life in patients with NAFLD,” the researchers said.