Coital positions and sexual functioning in patients with chronic pain

The objectives of this study were to describe (1) coital positions adopted by chronic back pain patients, (2) and to describe sexual function as asses sed by Derogatis Inventory of Sexual Functioning (DISF), In addition, patie nts were asked questions regarding effects of sexual intercourse on severit y of pain, influence of pain over sexual functioning, and perceived factors causing sexual problems. This is a subset (45 patients) of a larger study (70 patients) describing sexual functioning. These 45 patients responded to additional questions as described above. Mean age of the patients was 55.7 years (range 36-74 years). There were 40 male patients. Twenty-five patien ts (56%) were married. Mean duration of pain was 145.2 months. Thirty-two p atients (27 male and 5 female) were sexually active. Eighty-one percent of male and 100% of female patients, who were sexually active, preferred "male superior" position. Of those sexually active, 41% performed sexual interco urse while sitting on a chair. A majority of patients were experiencing pro blems in all domains of sexual functioning except for fantasy. Thirty-nine patients (87%) reported that pain extremely interfered in performing sexual intercourse. Twenty-nine patients (64%) reported worsening of pain due to sexual intercourse. Majority (n = 34) of the patients (76%) had fear of fai lure to perform and 25 patients (56%) reported fear of aggravating pain due to sexual activity. There is need for further research in this area.