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Low Sexual Desire Most Common
Female Sexual Problem
October
31, 2008.
www.medicalnewstoday.com Results from the PRESIDE* survey, the
largest study assessing the prevalence of female
sexual problems, show that low sexual
desire is the most commonly reported sexual
problem in women aged18 or older.1 In the
new survey of more than 31,000 women,
published today in Obstetrics & Gynecology
(the Green Journal), nearly
one in 10 women said they experience low desire with sexually-
related personal
distress, a condition that is medically referred to as Hypoactive Sexual
Desire Disorder (HSDD).1
HSDD,
is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV)
of the American Psychiatric Association, as
diminished feelings of sexual interest or desire,
absent sexual thoughts or fantasies and
lack of responsive desire that causes marked
distress or interpersonal difficulties
and is not caused by a medical
condition or drug.2
HSDD is a medical condition that remains
largely under- diagnosed.3
"Physicians
who diagnose and treat women with sexual problems should make
sure to
evaluate the patient's level of distress associated with her
problem," said Jan L. Shifren,
M.D., the leading author and director of The
Menopause Programme, Vincent Obstetrics
and Gynaecology Service at Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston. "As distressing
sexual problems were identified in
approximately 1 in 8 women, health care providers need
to ask their patients
about sexual concerns, and whether they are causing unhappiness,
frustration or other
distressing feelings that may
be impacting their quality of life."
PRESIDE
Results
In
the PRESIDE survey, 44.2% of women reported experiencing a
sexual problem of
some
kind.1 Low desire was most common, reported in 38.7% of
the respondents1; low arousal
(26.1%) and orgasm difficulty
(20.5%) were less frequent.1 Of all the women surveyed,
22.8% said they had
sexually-related personal distress.1
Low
desire was the most common distressing sexual problem,
affecting 10% of
respondents. It is twice as common as distress associated
with arousal (5.4%) or orgasm
problems (4.7%).1 Low desire with associated distress
was prevalent in women of all ages
but particularly pronounced in mid-life.1
About
PRESIDE
PRESIDE
is a cross-sectional, population-based,
nationally-representative survey of 31,581 adult women in the United States.1
As
female sexual dysfunction is characterised by sexual problems
associated with personal
distress, two validated instruments were used. The
Changes in Sexual Functioning
Questionnaire (CSFQ-14), a 14-item validated
tool, was used to capture a respondent's
self-evaluation of current sexual behaviors
and problems using a five- point
scale.1 The
Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), a 12-item
validated tool, measures a woman's
distress about her sex life, assesses
guilt, frustration, stress, worry, anger, embarrassment,
and unhappiness during the past
30 days.1
About
DSM-IV
The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth
Edition, defines HSDD
as the persistent lack (or absence) of sexual fantasies
or desire for any form of
sexual
activity marked by distress or interpersonal difficulty
and not better accounted for by
another disorder (except another sexual
dysfunction), direct physiological effects of a
substance (including medications)
or a general medical condition.2
*
Prevalence of Female Sexual Problems Associated with Distress
and Determinants of
Treatment Seeking.
References
1.
Shifren, JL et al. Sexual Problems and Distress in
United States Women:
Prevalence
and Correlates. Obstet Gynecol 2008; 112(5)
2-
Sexual and gender identity disorders. In: American Psychiatric
Association. Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th Ed.
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric
Association; 2000:493-538
3.
Bachmann G. Female sexuality and sexual dysfunction: are we
stuck on the learning
curve? <I< Sex>. 2006 Jul;3(4):639-45.
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