Effect of sildenafil citrate on women affected by sexual dysfunction referred to health clinics

Background. Female sexual dysfunction is a serious, multifactorial problem which affects women’s quality of life. Objectives. This study aimed at assessing the effect of sildenafil citrate on sexual dysfunction among women of reproductive age. Materials and methods. The present randomized clinical trial was conducted on 84 married women between 18 and 40 years old who suffered from sexual dysfunction. The inclusion criteria of the study were being married and between 18–40 years old, obtaining scores ≥ 22 in FSFI, not having a history of hypothyroidism or hyperprolactinemia, and not suffering from dyspareunia or vaginismus. The intervention group was required to consume 50 mg sildenafil citrate 1 hour before sexual intercourse for 5 weeks, and the control group received placebo. FSFI was completed by both study groups before and 5 weeks after the treatment. The data were analyzed through SPSS (v. 18) and paired t-test and independent t-test. Results. Most of the women (67.2%) were between 30 and 40 years old. The study results revealed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the mean scores of sexual desire (p = 0.011), sexual arousal (p = 0.001), lubrication (p = 0.026), orgasm and sexual satisfaction (p < 0.001), and the whole dimension (p < 0.001). Besides, total mean sexual function before and after for the intervention and control groups was 21.1 ± 3.28 vs. 17.22 ± 5.9 (p < 0.001). Conclusion. In this study, sildenafil citrate was effective in enhancing sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. Of course, more studies need to be conducted on this issue.