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. 2017 Aug 30;14(1):108.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-017-0371-9.

Effect of female genital mutilation/cutting; types I and II on sexual function: case-controlled study

Sahar A Ismail  1 , Ahmad M Abbas  2 , Dina Habib  2 , Hanan Morsy  3 , Medhat A Saleh  4 , Mustafa Bahloul  2
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Effect of female genital mutilation/cutting; types I and II on sexual function: case-controlled study

Sahar A Ismail et al. Reprod Health. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Background: The existing literature is contradictory regarding effects of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) on sexual functions. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of type I and II FGM/C on sexual function of Egyptian women.

Methods: We recruited 197 cut women and 197 control women from those visiting Assiut University hospitals for different reasons. We asked each woman to fill the Arabic female sexual function index (FSFI) (a self reported 19-item questionnaire assessing the main domains of female sexual function). Genital Examination was done to confirm the type of FGM.

Results: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) was found in 83.8% of FGM/C cases in contrast to 64.5% of the control. The total FSFI score in the FGM/C group (19.82 ± 7.1) was significantly lower than in the control group (23.34 ± 8.1). Concerning the types of FGM/C, type 73.6% of cases had type I and 26.4% had type II. Type I FGM/C was performed mainly by physicians (62.1%) while type II was performed mainly by midwives (44.4%). FSD was found in 83.4% of FGM/C I cases and in 84.6% of FGM/C II cases. There was no statistically significant difference between the two types of FGM/C as regards total and individual domain scores except for the pain domain. There were significantly lower total and individual domain scores in both FGM/C types except for the desire domain compared to control.

Conclusion: In this study, FGM/C was associated with reduced scores of FSFI on all domains scores, and among both types I and II, both were associated with sexual dysfunction.

Keywords: FSFI; Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); Sexual function.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional review board and ethical committee of Faculty of Medicine Assiut University, before the beginning of the study. All participating women gave written informed consent after a detailed explanation of the study’s aim and methodology was given.

Consent for publication

Consent for publication is available and can be send to the editors on request.

Competing interests

All authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of sexual intercourse in cases of FGM/C compared to control
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