To Determine the Quality of Life and Sexuality in Female with Lichen Sclerosus

Abstract

Aim: To determine the quality of life and sexuality in female with lichen sclerosus. Methods and Materials: This research comprised patients with newly diagnosed, biopsy-proven VLS (VLS group) and those who attended for a regular gynaecological check-up and did not take any estrogen-containing drugs (control group). A total of 100 patients were split into two groups of similar size. After receiving informed permission, one of the researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with the individuals. During these interviews, patients completed validated indian versions of the DLQI and FSFI questionnaires to measure their quality of life and sexual function, respectively. Results: The patients in the VLS and control groups were 53.58±8.59 and 51.96±6.78 years old, respectively. The difference was significant for overall scores (P<0.001) and scores on symptomatology, embarrassment, and self-consciousness (P<0.001), social or leisure activities (P=0.41), interpersonal connections (P=0.002), and working or studying performance (P<0.001). Sexual desire (P<0.001), sexual arousal (P<0.001), orgasm (P<0.001), pleasure (P<0.001), and pain (P<0.001) were substantially different between the two groups, although lubrication (P=0.22) was identical. Except for lubrication, all subgroups had greater mean FSFI ratings than the control group. Conclusion: we infer that VLS is linked to female sexual dysfunction. Because patients may be reticent to express their sexual issues verbally, doctors caring for these patients should have a low barrier for using pertinent surveys during clinical visits with these patients.