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Prevalence and risk factors of sexual dysfunction in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

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A Correction to this article was published on 19 July 2021

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Abstract

Purpose

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is increasingly identified in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but there are few systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the studies of SD in IBD patients. The purpose of the study is to further quantify the association between IBD and SD.

Methods

MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), and the Cochrane Library (OVID) were searched (until August 2020) to identify observational studies that reported the prevalence and risk factors of SD in IBD patients. Pooled prevalence, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated.

Results

Of the 945 citations evaluated, 18 studies (including 36,676 subjects) reporting the prevalence of SD in the IBD population were included for analysis. The overall pooled prevalence was 39% (95% CI 37–40%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of SD in women was 53% (95% CI 50–55%, P < 0.001), and it was 27% (95% CI 25–29%, P < 0.001) in men. The prevalence was higher in conjunction with operation (OR, 1.33, 95% CI 1.22–1.45, P < 0.001), depression (OR 6.14, 95% CI 3.51–10.76, P < 0.001), disease activity (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.32–5.64, P = 0.007), comorbidities (OR 3.21, 95% CI 2.06–5.00, P < 0.001), age < 50 years (OR 3.85, 95% CI 2.41–6.14, P < 0.001), and the need for corticosteroids (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.48–4.66, P = 0.001).

Conclusion

SD occurred frequently in the IBD population. Operation, depression, disease activity, comorbidities, age < 50 years, and the need for corticosteroids were risk factors for SD in IBD patients. SD screening might be recommended in IBD patients with the aforementioned factors.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81470826), the Science Foundation from Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (No. 2019YFS0262), and 1.3.5 project for disciplines of excellence, West China Hospital, Sichuan University (No. ZYGD18023).

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Author notes

  1. Jinzhi Zhang and Shi Wei have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatrics and National Clincal Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 20, Section 3, South Renmin Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Jinzhi Zhang, Xinyao Wu & Huatian Gan

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Shi Wei

  3. Lab of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Clinical Institute of Inflammation and Immunology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Qishan Zeng & Huatian Gan

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  1. Jinzhi Zhang
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Contributions

Jinzhi Zhang and Shi Wei have contributed equally to this work. Jinzhi Zhang and Shi Wei: Writing—Original Draft, Formal Analysis, Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing—Review and Editing; Qishan Zeng and XinYao Wu: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing—Review and Editing; Huatian Gan: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing—Review and Editing, Funding Acquisition. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Huatian Gan.

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Zhang, J., Wei, S., Zeng, Q. et al. Prevalence and risk factors of sexual dysfunction in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Colorectal Dis 36, 2027–2038 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-021-03958-y

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