A vivência da sexualidade em mulheres com fibromialgia: um estudo clínico-qualitativo

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out on sexuality of women with fibromyalgia, focusing mainly on the measurement of sexual dysfunction indicators. This study, on the other hand, aimed to understand the experience of sexuality of a group of women with fibromyalgia according to their perspective. This clinical- qualitative study involved eight 40 to 60 years old women diagnosed with fibromyalgia for at least six months. Names of the participants were retrieved from the files of a specialized non-governmental organization and participants were recruited accordingly. The locus of data collection was a psychoanalytic discussion group, which involved four meetings that lasted approximately one hour and thirty minutes each. All meetings were audio recorded with permission of the participants. The recordings were transcribed fully and literally, thus constituting the corpus of this study, and it was analyzed according to the methodological procedures of content analysis. The categorical analysis led to the setting of the following three categories: (1) “If it was done with love...” (2) “Mary of Sorrows” and (3) “Love and sex”. The first category gathered reports according to which the participants made it clear that they consider the impact of fibromyalgia on sexuality totally negative, but understand that it could be minimized if their partners were more affectionate in everyday life. The second category refers to reports showing the influence of fibromyalgia on all the relationships of participants, including with themselves. Moreover, these reports illustrate that the disqualification of the pain these women feel by virtue of fibromyalgia by other people adds to losses associated with menopause and aging, negatively impacting the sexual desire and satisfaction. Finally, reports in the third category reveal the repercussions of religion and morality that are associated with the impact of fibromyalgia on the experience of sexuality, leading as a consequence to several restrictions on sexual activity. Although these results are obtained from a particular group of participants, they contribute to those reported in previous research, and thus provide elements useful for both the multidisciplinary care offered to women with fibromyalgia and the development of new research on the subject.