{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T15:35:12Z","timestamp":1772724912318,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772668800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":4,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001775","name":"University of Technology Sydney","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Early Career Researcher Seed Funding Research Gran"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Early Career Researcher Seed Funding Research Gran"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001775","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open Resp Res"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sexual life is important for many people and may be limited by breathlessness. We evaluated associations between breathlessness and individuals\u2019 perceived satisfaction with sexual lives and explored mediating factors in this relationship.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A cross-sectional, online, population-based survey of Australian adults with key demographics (age, sex, rurality, state\/territory) reflected the 2016 national census. Assessments included:\n                      <jats:italic>demographics, breathlessness<\/jats:italic>\n                      (modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale);\n                      <jats:italic>satisfaction with overall sexual life; whether breathlessness had affected overall sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>physical, social and emotional functioning<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Binomial and ordinal logistic regression evaluated associations; a structural equation model evaluated direct, indirect and total associations.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Of 10\u2009033 respondents (52%\u2009women; mean age 45.4 (SD 18.6)), 4245\/10\u2009033 (42%) reported mMRC \u22651, 1214\/10\u2009033 (12%) reported being very dissatisfied with their\n                      <jats:italic>overall sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      and 943\/10\u2009033 (9%) reported that breathlessness had impacted their\n                      <jats:italic>overall sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Compared with mMRC 0, there was an unadjusted association between mMRC 1 and\n                      <jats:italic>satisfaction with overall sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      which remained after adjusting for age, sex and body mass index (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.50; 95%\u2009CI 1.29 to 1.74).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Breathlessness severity was associated with worse unadjusted and adjusted\n                      <jats:italic>impact on overall sexual life:<\/jats:italic>\n                      mMRC 0 versus mMRC 1 (aOR: 1.84; 95%\u2009CI 1.36 to 2.47). The associations increased stepwise for each higher mMRC level. There may be moderation of the effect of breathlessness on\n                      <jats:italic>satisfaction with sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      through emotional functioning.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Increasing breathlessness severity increases the likelihood of a person\u2019s\n                      <jats:italic>overall sexual life<\/jats:italic>\n                      being impacted negatively, potentially mediated partly through emotional functioning.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjresp-2025-003907","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T14:35:22Z","timestamp":1772721322000},"page":"e003907","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Associations between breathlessness and individuals\u2019 satisfaction with sexual life: a nationally representative internet survey"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0437-3168","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Max","family":"Olsson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jacob","family":"Sandberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden"},{"name":"Department of Health, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Blekinge County, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3531-0389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Slavica","family":"Kochovska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0723-3192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sungwon","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 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