Effects of smoking cessation on sexual functions and health quality of life in premenopausal women: A prospective case – controlled study

Abstract Objective: To evaluate whether smoking cessation has an effect on female sexual function and quality of life. Methodology: After approval by the local ethics committee, smoking and non-smoking female participants were included in the study and all participants filled the female sexual function index (FSFI) and the short form 36 (SF-36). The same questionnaires were filled again at the 9th month control after smoking cessation. The scores of these questionnaires were compared between the groups. In addition, the FSFI and SF-36 scores of the participants in the smoking group were also compared with the scores at the 9th month after smoking cessation. Results: The rate of FSD was significantly higher in the smoking group when compared with control group (86.0% vs 32.5%; p<0,001). The FSFI total and sub domains score was significantly lower in the smoking group when compared control group [21.5 (min:14.4-max:28.69) and 28.9 (min:17.7-max:32.8); p<0.001 respectively]. The rate of FSD was significantly decreased after nine months smoking cessation (86% to 35.1%; p<0.001). After smoking cessation significant improvements on FSFI total and sub-domain scores and SF-36 sub-domain scores were determined. Conclusion: In this study, it was shown that smoking negatively affected FSD and QOL when compared to healthy non-smoking women, and smoking cessation caused significant improvements in FSFI and SF-36 scores in these women after 9 months. Keywords: female sexual dysfunction, female sexual function index, smoking cessation, the Short Form 36, quality of life.