Association between Menopausal Status and Risk of Sexual Dysfunction in Sexually Active Women Infected With HIV Infection: Analysis of a Peruvian Series

Abstract

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has contributed to increase survival in women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Thus, an important proportion of these women are able to reach mid-age. However, current available information regarding different outcomes of interest during the climacteric stage in this type of patients is limited. Objective: To evaluate the association between menopausal status and risk of sexual dysfunction (RSD) in sexually active mid-aged women infected with HIV controlled by clinical and demographic variables. Methods: We carried out a secondary analysis to a cross-sectional study conducted in Lima, Peru. We evaluated 221 sexually active women infected with HIV (40 to 59 years). Menopausal status was classified according to Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop criteria in premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women. RSD was assessed with the “Female Sexual Function Index”. In addition, other socio-demographic and clinical variables were measured such as age, HAART scheme, time of disease and comorbidities. We performed generalized linear models LOGIT using a binomial model with robust variance to estimate 95% CI, Crude Odds ratio (ORc) and Adjusted Odds ratio (ORa) according to levels of epidemiology study. Results: The mean age of women studied was 47.0 ± 5.2 years, including 25.3% premenopausal and 48.9% postmenopausal women. Frequencies of RSD were 64.3%, 53.6% and 75% for all premenopausal and menopausal women, respectively. Compared to premenopausal women, postmenopausal women were associated with RSD at crude (ORc ¼ 2.60, 95%CI ¼ 1.31–5.2, p ¼ 0.006) and adjusted (ORa ¼ 2.73, 95% CI ¼ 1.31–5.67, p¼0.007) models. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the postmenopausal status in sexually active women infected with HIV showed higher odd ratios for RSD. The study of the sexual sphere should be included in the comprehensive evaluation of middle-age women infected with HIV. Further research is warranted in this regard.