People with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a tendency towards significantly lower sexual quality of life in comparison to those who do not have these diseases. Men and women with these problems rarely dare to discuss the problem with their physicians.

These are the findings of a recent study that has been published in the journal “Respiratory Medicine”.

“Sexuality needs to be discussed by the health care provider in the consultation in order to improve quality of life of patients with chronic respiratory disorders,” said Ad Kaptein, leader of the research team at the Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands.

 COPD

Quality of life is now an accepted outcome measure for patients with asthma and ‘chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)’. Despite this known fact, no serious attempt ever took place to conduct a systematic study to understand the associated issues with the patients. Sexuality has rarely been studied in this manner before and it has not been incorporated into quality-of-life measures for asthma and COPD patients.

Ad Kaptein and his colleagues’ researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands carried out intensive investigations on perceived consequences of asthma and COPD for sexuality. This investigation involved an interaction with 55 patients and their partners having diagnosed asthma or COPD and who are living in a heterosexual relationship. The sexual consequences of asthma and COPD, along with socio-demographic data, were also analyzed using the ‘Intimate Physical Contact Scales (IPCS)’ and the ‘Respiratory Experiences with Sexuality Profile’.

Male COPD patients reported more physical problems affecting negatively their sexual desire, sexual excitement and intimacy. They also reported low self-esteem interfering with their sexuality. There was a decline in evaluating their partners as less attractive and a low level of sexual satisfaction.

On the contrary, the female patients with COPD reported only the low frequency of sexual intimacy. Male patients with asthma reported an enhanced level of negative influence on sexual desire than controls, and low sexual excitement, while female asthma patients reported significantly more problems than controls on almost all parameters, except for “low esteem for partner interfering with sexuality” and “general assessment of partner.”

“One possible explanation is that both patients and physicians find sexual difficulties an uncomfortable topic to discuss,” the researchers suggest.

The researchers feel that there must be disease-specific instruments to assess sexual experiences and problems in patients with respiratory disorders. It is also pertinent to include necessary measures in to the routine self-management programs.”

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