- The FSFI is a survey measuring the sexual functioning of women in six different domains: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain.
- The index only measures sexual function in these domains over the previous 30 days.
- The FSFI has primarily been tested on women with sexual arousal disorder as well as the general population.
- The index is less established in groups with spinal cord injury.
ICF Domain
Body Functions ▶ Genitourinary and reproductive functions
Administration
- Each item is scored from 0 to 5 except for questions 1, 2, 13-16 (which are scored from 1 to 5).
- The items are then scaled to achieve a maximum score of 36.
Number of Items
19
Equipment
None
Languages
N/A
Training Required
No additional training required.
Availability
Can be found here.
# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 8
Interpretability
MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: not established in SCI
MDC: not established in SCI
Reliability
Not established in SCI.
In general population:
- High Internal Consistency: α = 0.97 (full sample), α = 0.93 (FSAD), α = 0.95 (gen. pop.).
(Rosen et al. 2011). - High Test-Retest Reliability for total scale: ICC = 0.94.
(Wolpe et al. 2017). - High Correlation between online and paper FSFI tests: r = 0.934 (P = 0.91).
(Crisp et al. 2014).
Validity
Not established in SCI.
In general population:
- High Significance in difference in mean scores between Female Sexual Arousal Disorder and control groups: P < 0.001.
- Low to Moderate Correlation between FSFI with Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Control group, r = 0.53 Female Sexual Arousal Disorder group, r = 0.22.
(Rosen et al. 2011)
Responsiveness
No values were reported for the responsiveness of the FSFI for the SCI population.
Floor/Ceiling Effect
No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the FSFI for the SCI population.
Reviewers
Gurmaan Gill.
Date Last Updated
24 January 2019
Rosen R, Brown C, Heiman J, Leiblum S, Meston C, Shabsigh R, Ferguson D, D’Agostino R Jr. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): a multidimensional self-report instrument for the assessment of female sexual function. J Sex Marital Ther. 2000;26(2):191-208. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10782451
Wiegel M, Meston C, Rosen R. The female sexual function index (FSFI): cross-validation and development of clinical cutoff scores. J Sex Marital Ther. 2005;31(1):1-20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15841702/
Burri A, Cherkas L, Spector T. Replication of psychometric properties of the FSFI and validation of a modified version (FSFI-LL) assessing lifelong sexual function in an unselected sample of females. J Sex Med. 2010;7(12):3929-39. https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(15)32798-3/fulltext
Carpenter JS, Jones SM, Studts CR, Heiman JR, Reed SD, Newton KM, Guthrie KA, Larson JC, Cohen LS, Freeman EW, Jane Lau R, Learman LA, Shifren JL. Female Sexual Function Index Short Version: A MsFLASH Item Response Analysis. Arch Sex Behav. 2016;45(8):1897-1905. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5053877/
Crisp CC, Fellner AN, Pauls RN. Validation of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for web-based administration. Int Urogynecol J. 2015;26(2):219-22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25023778
Isidori AM, Pozza C, Esposito K, Giugliano D, Morano S, Vignozzi L, Corona G, Lenzi A, Jannini EA. Development and validation of a 6-item version of the female sexual function index (FSFI) as a diagnostic tool for female sexual dysfunction. J Sex Med. 2010;7(3):1139-46. https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(15)32925-8/fulltext
Kalmbach DA, Ciesla JA, Janata JW, Kingsberg SA. The Validation of the Female Sexual Function Index, Male Sexual Function Index, and Profile of Female Sexual Function for Use in Healthy Young Adults. Arch Sex Behav. 2015;44(6):1651-62. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25091215
Wolpe RE, Queiroz APA, Zomkowski K, Sperandio FF. Psychometric properties of the Female Sexual Function Index in the visual analogue scale format. Sex Health. 2017;14(3):213-220. http://www.publish.csiro.au/sh/SH16131
