Around a third of patients (31%) reported no impact on sexual activity, with an additional 38% reporting only 'little' impact. In contrast, 21% reported their condition as having a considerable impact on their sexuality, with one in 10 reporting their rheumatoid arthritis made sexual activity either almost or totally impossible.

Compared to the female patients, men were more likely to report large impact of health status on sexual activity (27.8%, 40.0%, p= 0.001) , with patients with less than 12 years of education more likely to report large impact, compared to those with more than 12 years education (35.4%, 24.6%, p= 0,001).

Surprisingly, whilst joint pain associated with the disease was not reported as playing a significant factor, higher levels of fatigue (tiredness) and functional limitation predicted perceived problems with sexual activity.

The study aimed to examine the prevalence of self-reported problems with sexual activity in patients with RA, and associations to demographic and disease related variables. 1041 patients (mean (SD) age 61.7 (15.0) years, mean (SD) disease duration 14.08 (10.9) years, female 78%) responded to a postal questionnaire in 2004 comprising several health status measures. Out of the 1041 respondents, 830 patients answered question 15 in the Health Utility Questionnaire 15D, which addressed the perceived level of problems with sexual activity. Pain and fatigue visual analogue scale (VAS, 100 mm), Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS2) and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ, range 0-3) were included as disease related variables. The 5 response groups were dichotomised into "no/little impact" on sexual activity or "large impact" (considerable impact/almost impossible/impossible to have sexual activit
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Contact: Mia Gannedahl
mia_gannedahl@uk.cohnwolfe.com
44-207-331-2325
European League Against Rheumatism
24-Jun-2006