Évaluation du fonctionnement sexuel de la femme tunisienne dans sa relation avec l'ajustement conjugal

Based on a holistic approach to the concept of sexual functioning (SF), it can be considered that there is an interaction between sexual problems and conjugal difficulties. This study aimed to evaluate the SF in a population of Tunisian women in sexual activity, to determine its links with marital adjustment and to identify sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with it. It was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, involving 116 women who had been married for more than six months and consulted in primary care. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used for the assessment of the SF and the dyadic adjustment scale (EAD-16) to measure marital satisfaction. The average age was 34.52 years (22-53 years). Participants were married for 10.05 years on average. They were dissatisfied with their marital life in 46.6% of the cases. Sexual dysfunction was found in 59.5% of women. The alteration of the overall SF was correlated with poorer marital satisfaction (P = 10−3), the increase of women's age (P = 10−3), the increase in duration of marriage (P = 10−3), the number of children beyond two and the non-use of contraception (10−3 ˂ P ≤ 0.01). Female sexual dysfunction seems to be frequent, complex and multifactorial. Our results raise the importance of conjugal factors, in particular marital satisfaction, in the SF of Tunisian women, governed by a well-defined sociocultural context.