Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, 2021, 11, 152-159 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojra ISSN Online: 2164-005X ISSN Print: 2163-9914 DOI: 10.4236/ojra.2021.114016 Oct. 14, 2021 152 Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases Sexuality of Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a West African Hospital Aly Badra Kamissoko 1 , Tayo Nadège Raissa Edikou 1 , Abdoulaye Barry 1 , Marina Sanda 1 , Kadé Fofana 1 , Lou Nahan Eunice Irie 1 , Mamadou Lamine Diallo 1,2 , Owonayo Oniankitan 2 1 Department of Rheumatology, Ignace Deen National Hospital, Conakry, Guinea 2 Department of Rheumatology, Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital, Lomé, Togo Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes socio-economic, psychological and sexual problems. It imposes limita- tions on sexual relationships and these issues are still taboo in African society. Objective: The objective is to assess the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on women’s sexuality at the Ignace Deen National Hospital. Patients and Methods: This was an analytic case-control study of 8 months (from April 6, 2020 to December 11, 2020). All patients followed for rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed according to 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for RA had been included. Results: One hundred and five women (52 RA patients and 53 controls) were collected. The two groups were comparable in terms of demographic charac- teristics. Sexual dysfunction was found in 69.2% of cases versus 35.8% of con- trols. Women with RA had poorer sexual functioning in the categories of de- sire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain of the FSFI score compared to healthy women (p = 0.01; p = 0.7; p = 0.3; p = 0.8; p = 0.1; and p = 0.3 respectively). Patients were 4 times more likely to have sexual dysfunc- tion than healthy individuals and this result was statistically significant with a p-value less than 0.05. Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction was noted in a large number of RA patients surveyed at the rheumatology department of the Ig- nace Deen national hospital. A larger study is needed to better assess this is- sue and seek management solutions. Keywords Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sexuality, FSFI, Guinea 1. Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and progressive autoimmune disease How to cite this paper: Kamissoko, A.B., Edikou, T.N.R., Barry, A., Sanda, M., Fofa- na, K., Irie, L.N.E., Diallo, M.L. and Onian- kitan, O. (2021) Sexuality of Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a West African Hospital. Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, 11, 152-159. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojra.2021.114016 Received: August 13, 2021 Accepted: October 11, 2021 Published: October 14, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access