Impact of sexual dysfunction on Quality of Life of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is the first cause of disability in young people due to neurological illnesses, with the highest incidence between 20 and 40 years of age, reason why it bears an important economic, social and family impact, deteriorating the quality of life. Their symptoms vary according to the evolutionary moment of the illness, its clinical form and the topography of the lesions. It is thought that permanent symptoms, due to the incomplete recovery after a relapse or due to progression of the illness, usually impair the quality of the individual's life. Some of them are fatigue, spasticity, intestinal and/ or bladder dysfunction, pain, neuralgia, vertigo, and sexual dysfunction among others; in this study we investigate the impact in the quality of life in patients with Multiple Sclerosis and sexual dysfunction, which is classified as primary, secondary and tertiary. Methods: We included in this study 35 patients with Multiple Sclerosis who were submitted to the Expanded Disability Scale Status (EDSS), MSISQ-19 for sexual dysfunction in patients with Multiple Sclerosis and the MusiQoL to evaluate the quality of life. Results: We found an average age of 40.3 years (range 23 to 55 years) with an EDSS score of 2.8 and a frequency of Primary Sexual Dysfunction of 86.6%, 41.93%, male and 50.06% female; 86.6% had Secondary Sexual Dysfunction, 38.7% male and 61.29% female. The Tertiary dysfunction was found in 74.3%, 38.46% male and 61.53% female. Conclusions: This study showed evidences that people with EM without sexual dysfunction have a better quality of life than people with it, however the differences are not significant.