Exploration of sexual experience among women with pelvic organ prolapse: a qualitative study

Abstract

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common problem among women and can adversely affect sexual function. Therefore, designing a study to hear the sound of these women seems necessary. This study aimed to explore the sexual experience of women with POP. Based on a qualitative methodology, 20 untreated women with symptomatic POP were selected by purposive sampling and interviewed from March 2018 to December 2018. To achieve maximum diversity, different participants were selected based on age, education, occupation, type of delivery, type of prolapsed organ, and degree of prolapse. The data were analyzed using the MAXQDA software (Ver.10) and a qualitative content analysis approach. Ethical approval was obtained from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Mean (SD) age of women was 44.55 (10.22) years. Mean (SD) Duration of having prolapse was 6.05 (3.7). Qualitative analysis revealed the following five main themes: (I) Experiencing sexual discomfort; (II) damaged genital body image; (III) psychological problem, (IV) Husband's response to prolapse; (V) sexual problem management. These findings indicated that POP had disrupted women`s sexual life. An improved understanding of women's sexual experiences may help health provider better cover women`s unmet sexual needs.