ABSTRACT
Background: Women constitute about half of the Iranian population. Sexual behaviour is one of the most important elements in their lives. Identifying the elements associated with sexual behaviours seems necessary in order to draw a thorough picture of Iranian women's sexuality
Objective: To elicit information from Iranian women at their reproductive ages on sexual behaviours related to their elements including sexual capacity, sexual motivation, performance and sexual scripts
Materials and Methods: Study participants involved 295 women at reproductive age from five different cities. Women completed a national self-reporting questionnaire on elements related to sexual behaviours. The elements included sexual capacity, sexual motivation, sexual performance, and sexual script. Pearson's correlation variance analysis and multi-linear regression were used to analyze data
Results: Significant positive correlation was found between the sexual capacity, motivation, performance, and sexual script [p<0.001]. Linear regression showed that the effective variable on the sexual performance were women's ages [p=0.02], and tertiary education [p=0.05]. A significant association was found between age and sexual motivation score, too. A significant relation was observed between the history of pregnancy and level of education with a positive response to sexual script questions
Conclusion: Identifying the elements of sexual behaviours would help women understand their sexual behaviours and related influencing factors. Therefore, enrichment of women's sexuality is needed; also a well-planned educational program is a need for women to understand their sexuality-related potentials
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] is a common endocrine disorder related to several metabolic consequences. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the metabolic features of various phenotypes. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM] and metabolic disorders among the four different phenotypes of PCOS
Methods: A crosssectional study was performed in Royan Institute including 208 pregnant women with a history of infertility and PCOS. Using the diagnostic criteria of the American Diabetes Association [ADA], pregnant women with a documented diagnoses of PCOS were further categorized into four different phenotypes [A, B, C, and D] as defined by the Rotterdam criteria
Results: The prevalence of GDM failed to demonstrate a significant relationship among the four phenotypes of PCOS. The mean levels of fasting blood sugar, plasma glucose concentrations at three hours [following the 100 g oral glucose tolerance test] and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in phenotype B compared to the remaining phenotypes [p < 0.050]. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean free testosterone level and phenotypes A and C groups [1.8+/-1.6 vs. 1.1+/-1.0, p = 0.003]
Conclusions: Women with a known diagnosis of PCOS who exhibited oligo/ anovulation and hyperandrogenism demonstrated an increase of metabolic disorders. These results suggest that metabolic screening, before conception or in the early stages of pregnancy, can be beneficial particularly in women with PCOS phenotypes A and B. Early screening and identification may justify enhanced maternal fetal surveillance to improve maternal and fetal morbidity among women affected with PCOS