A fascinating new study has found that while around 40 percent of women report having sexual problems, only 12 percent indicate that those issues are a source of significant personal distress. The report appears in the November issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Study leader Jan Shifren, from Massachusetts General Hospital, noted that while several past studies have found that many women have problems with low desire, diminished arousal or difficulties with orgasm, few researchers have bothered to ask the women about the actual levels of distress associated with those problems. The current study surveyed 32,000 women aged between 18 and 100 from across the U.S. using a well-established survey of sexual function supplemented by a measure of a woman's distress related to her sex life - including feelings of anger, guilt, frustration, and worry.
"Sexual problems are common in women, but problems associated with personal distress, those which are truly bothersome and affect a woman's quality of life, are much less frequent," said Shifren. "For a sexual concern to be considered a medical problem, it must be associated with distress, so it's important to assess this in both research studies and patient care."
Some level of sexual problem was reported in 43 percent of respondents - with 39 percent reporting low levels of desire, 26 percent problems with arousal and 21 percent difficulties with orgasm. Although the prevalence of sexual problems was highest in women over 65, that group reported the lowest levels of distress, while distress was reported most frequently in women aged 45 to 64. The youngest group - those from 18 to 44 - had lower levels of both problems and distress.
"Although sexual problems were very common in women over age 65, these problems often weren't associated with distress," Shifren says. "Several factors could be behind the lower levels of distress in the oldest group. If their partners also have low desire, it may not be looked on as a problem, or additional health issues could be of greater concern."
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Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
