Effects of bacterial vaginosis and its treatment on sexual functions: A cross-sectional questionnaire study

Aim: To investigate the effects of bacterial vaginosis, which is the most frequent vaginal infection in women, and its treatment on sexual functions. Methods: Patients who had applied to our gynecology outpatient clinic with bacterial vaginosis based on the culture results were included in this observational questionnaire study. Patients with an accompanying disease possibly resulting in sexual dysfunction and those with vaginitis etiology other than bacterial vaginosis were excluded from the study. Patients were asked to fill the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) during the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis and 1 month later than the treatment. Results: Seventy-two patients who had applied to our outpatient clinic between January 2018 and January 2019 and who met the study criteria were included in this study. Statistically significant improvement was found in post-treatment orgasm and pain scores and in total FSFI scores of the patients upon comparison of FSFI scores of patients before and after the treatment (p<0.001). However, no statistically significant differences were found in sexual desire, arousal, lubricity and general satisfaction scores before and after the treatment (p>0.05 for all). Conclusion: It was found that sexual dysfunction was more common in patients with bacterial vaginosis and improvement was seen in some sexual functions with treatment