The Impact of Fecal Incontinence on Women's Sexuality: A Review of the

Background: Although sexuality is an important aspect of women’s quality of life, very few published articles have studied the impact of fecal incontinence (FI) on women’s sexual health. Objective: This review aimed to identify and examine the published data relating to the impact of FI on female sexuality. Methods: The relevant published literature was reviewed using PubMed from 2001 to 2013 that reported data related to sexuality in female patients with FI. Results: A total of 13 articles were identified based on the following search terms: fecal incontinence, sexual function, sexual activity, sexuality, quality of life, and fecal incontinence surgical treatment. Data related to the impact of FI on sexual health differed considerably amongst the selected articles due to variability in outcomes evaluated, lack of uniformity in assessing sexual dysfunction and/or use of non-validated instruments, Despite these shortcomings, the majority of studies showed that sexually active women with FI have poorer sexual function including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain during sexual intercourse compared to women without FI. No studies reported differences in the engagement of sexual activity itself between patients with and without FI. Studies evaluating the impact of sphincteroplasty on sexual health did not find improvement in sexual function after surgery. Most patients undergoing sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) for FI experienced improvement in sexual function 3 months after surgical implantation. Conclusion: Although the majority of studies demonstrated that sexual function may be affected by symptoms of FI, comparative studies of patients without FI showed no difference relative to the engagement of sexual activity itself. Although sphincteroplasty does not seem to positively impact patient’s sexual function, those undergoing SNS may experience improvement in sexual health.