Dyspareunia, the symptom of painful sexual intercourse, is a common sexual dysfunction in reproductive-aged women. Because of its multifactorial etiology, a multidisciplinary approach may be required to treat it. Musculoskeletal factors play an important role; thus, rehabilitating the pelvic floor and modifying the tone of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) may be an effective way to treat this dysfunction. The aim of this randomized controlled clinical study was to evaluate the effects of pelvic floor rehabilitation techniques on dyspareunia.
Objectives: To present an overall picture of the evidence regarding the association of erectile dysfunction (ED) with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: Systematic reviews and meta‐analyses that studied the association of ED with any CVD were included in this umbrella review. We did not restrict the population to a particular group or age. PubMed, Embase, the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and the PROSPERO register were searched to find relevant systematic reviews, with or without meta‐analyses, from inception to April 2020. The JBI Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses was used for the critical appraisal. Only studies with acceptable quality were included. Two independent reviewers extracted the data using the JBI data extraction tool for qualitative and quantitative data extraction. Results: The summary estimate showed a higher risk of CVD (relative risk [RR] 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36–1.54; P < 0.001), coronary heart disease (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.37–1.64; P < 0.001), cardiovascular‐related mortality (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.37–1.64; P < 0.001), all‐cause mortality (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.18–1.32; P < 0.001), myocardial infarction (RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.33–1.80; P < 0.001) and stroke (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.26–1.46; P < 0.001) in patients with ED than in other patients. Conclusions: Our results confirm that ED is an independent predictor of CVD and their outcomes. ED and CVD are two presentations of the same physiological phenomenon. ED normally precedes symptomatic CVD, providing a window of opportunity for healthcare practitioners to screen and detect high‐risk patients early to prevent avoidable morbidity and mortality.