الفهرس 
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Abstract
Although sexual dysfunction in hypertensive women is very common, it is underinvestigated and usually overlooked.
The current study aimed to evaluate the impact of both essential hypertension and antihypertensive medications on various aspects of sexuality in hypertensive women.
This study was carried out on 561 married hypertensive women aged 30-59 years receiving antihypertensive treatment who attended the internal medicine clinic in Benha University Hospital in the period between April 2018 and October 2018. The tool of the study was a questionnaire written in English and translated to Arabic to ensure it is understood by all subjects regardless their level of education.
The results of this study showed that:
- The majority of the participants (75.4%) were in the age group 40-54 years.
- Most of them living in rural areas (65.6%) and of low to moderate education (88.9%).
- The duration of hypertension was less than 10 years in 60.9% of the participants and more than 10 years in 39.1%. In the majority of cases (90.2%) the disease was of moderate severity.
- Regarding the antihypertensive treatment, 39.6% were treated with β-blockers, 28.5% with ACE inhibitors, 12.5% with ARBs, 11.2% with Calcium channel blockers and 8.2% were taking diuretics.
- Among the participants, 39% reported that hypertension or its treatment negatively impacted their sexual life.
- All domains were severely affected. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was as follows: lack of desire (84.5%), lack of arousal (85.4%), lubrication difficulty (88.1%), dyspareunia (85.4%), anorgasmia and severe orgasmic difficulty (87.2%) and sexual dissatisfaction (86.3%).
- Older participants had higher significant percentage of sexual dysfunction affecting all sexual aspects than younger ones.
- Participants with a low and moderate educational level had higher significant percentage of sexual dysfunction.
- There was a direct correlation between the duration and severity of hypertension and sexual dysfunction.
- Sexual dysfunction was significantly more prevalent among participants using diuretics and calcium channel blockers.
- Sexual dysfunction was significantly more prevalent among menopausal participants in comparison to menstruating ones.
Conclusion
Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent among hypertensive women. This negatively influences the quality of life. Several factors are sharing in the development of sexual dysfunction in hypertensive women including the disease severity, duration and the drug used for treatment. The negative impact of hypertension and its treatment on female sexuality should always be kept in mind while dealing with such cases.