Despite decades of study, sexual dysfunction in women remains difficult to measure: UNC researchers

In a paper published in the most recent volume of the Annual Review of Sex Research, West and co-authors Lisa Vinikoor, also of UNC’s School of Public Health, and Dr. Denniz Zolnoun, a physician with the UNC School of Medicine’s department of obstetrics and gynecology, analyzed results of more than 85 studies on female sexual function and dysfunction. Vinikoor is a graduate student in epidemiology, and Zolnoun is a physician affiliated with the UNC School of Medicine’s department of obstetrics and gynecology.

The researchers found a huge variation in research methodologies, not only in what questions women in these studies were being asked, but in how they were being asked and who was studied. Early studies focused on women’s sexual satisfaction and orgasm, trying to characterize female sexual response using the same framework as that for males. More recent studies have taken into account that female sexual response may change during the reproductive life cycle and often includes psychological or emotional factors that, while important, are difficult to measure.

Many of the studies, perhaps because of methodology or protocol, seem conflicting, which is why it is so important for scientists to have some consistency in the way they conduct their research, West said. For example:

• Two studies showed rates of dysfunction were relatively low in women who were interviewed (11 percent in married women in a 1990 study, 20 percent in women attending a Lond clinic in 2000), but were quite high in women who filled out self-administered questionnaires at a military clinic in 2001.
• A 1976 study indicated that only 1 percent of women had no interest in sex, while a 2003 study showed that more than 50 percent of women age 20 and older had no interest.
• Two general population Australian studies suggested that desire falls with increasing age. However, a 1998 general population study of Danes showed desire decreased when women were ages 30-40, but increased again in their late 40s and older.
• A study of 19- to 32-year-olds at German universities found sexual satisfaction to decrease in both men and women with increasing duration of the relationship. The desire to have sex often was similar across relationship duration for males, but decreased for females. In contrast, the desire to be tender was high and stable across relationship duration in females, but decreased in males.

“The more we know about the patterns and severity of sexual dysfunction, the better equipped we will be to find solutions. However, for this field to advance, there needs to be a valid determination of who has sexual dysfunction and what factors influence its occurrence,” West said.

“Sexual dysfunction is important to both the woman and her partner, with respect to their relationship. It is also important to society as a whole, as sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction is reflected in divorce rates, domestic violence, single-parent families and future intimate relationships.”

West and Vinikoor also are affiliated with UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and West is a part of the UNC Center for Women’s Health Research leadership team and is a faculty member in UNC’s department of obstetrics and gynecology.

The Annual Review of Sex Research is published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

Note: Contact West at (919) 966-7129 or sue_west@unc.edu.

For further information please contact Ramona DuBose either by phone at 919-966-7467 or by e-mail at ramona_dubose@unc.edu.