Assessment of Sexual Dysfunction in Female Kidney Transplant Patients Using the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) and its subcategories using the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) in women undergoing kidney transplantation (KTx) and to compare the prevalence of SD before and after KTx. This study included 70 female KTx patients. Patient characteristics, chronic diseases, and medications were obtained from electronic records. ASEX was used to assess SD. The median age of our patients was 39 (23-66) years. Diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in 11.4% of our patients. In total, 97% of patients were receiving prednisolone therapy. Among patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy, 58.6% were receiving mycophenolic acid, 20% mycophenolate mofetil, 18.6% azathioprine, 57.1% tacrolimus, 34.3% cyclosporine, 2.9% sirolimus, and 4.3% everolimus. The SD rate as assessed by the ASEX was 24.3%. No significant difference was found between the current and previous ASEX subgroup and total scores when the scores of our patients were compared. We observed a decrease in the SD rate of 27.4% to 24.3% after KTx in our patients. In our study, sexual dysfunction showed a slight, non-significant decrease following kidney transplantation. In conclusion, kidney transplantation may reduce the incidence of SD and improve patient well-being among renal replacement therapy patients.