Objective. This survey was designed and conducted with an aim to present data on sexual desire and activity in Chinese women. Methods. Between October 2013 and December 2013, we surveyed 3000 women (aged 40–65 years) at Beijing No. 2 Hospital and the Yuetan Community Health Service Center using a questionnaire. The primary outcomes included determination of sexual desire in the past 4 weeks, reasons for stopping sexual activity, and postmenopausal syndrome. The secondary outcome was determination of factors for low sexual desire. Results. A total of 2400 women (mean age 54.33 ± 6.25 years; mean menopausal age 50.11 ± 3.31 years) returned the questionnaire, with 58% of women reporting lowered sexual desire and 39.3% reporting stoppage of sexual activity. Compared with the postmenopausal group, the incidence of anxiety, depressive, somatic, and vasomotor symptoms was higher in the perimenopausal group. Muscle and joint pain (45.8%) and vaginal pruritus (21.5%) were the most commonly reported menopausal and vulvovaginal symptoms, respectively. The odds of decrease in sexual desire were significantly higher with older age, menopause, presence of gynecological disease, menopausal depression symptoms, menopausal vasomotor symptoms, and vulvovaginal atrophy; only cesarean delivery (odds ratio = 0.887, P = 0.018 ) was associated with lesser reduction in sexual desire compared with the aforementioned factors. Conclusion. This survey showed that a high proportion of Chinese middle-aged and old women have lowered sexual desire and activity. Lack of sexual desire is associated with multiple factors and affects the quality of life of women.

Objective. To evaluate the effect of hemp cotton sanitary pads on the vaginal microecology. Methods. A randomized controlled field trial was used to recruit 1002 community-based women of childbearing age. The women were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group used hemp cotton sanitary pads, while the control group used two types of cotton sanitary randomly chosen from the top five sanitary pads in terms of market share in China. The vaginal microecology was compared between the two groups after three months. Results. According to the vaginal microecologic examination results at baseline, 1002 women were included in 3 groups: normal vaginal microecologic, vaginal microecological disorders, and suspected vaginal infections. The number of patients in three groups were 39 (3.9%), 652 (65.1%), and 311 (31%), respectively. Three months later, the vaginal microecologic status and vaginal pH value of the suspected vaginal infection group were not significantly different between the experimental group and control group. The experimental group outperformed the control group with respect to vaginal cleanliness and vaginal microecology status in the women without a vaginal infection (normal vaginal microecology or microecological disorders group). The rate of abnormal cleanliness in the experimental group was lower than the control group (31.95% [108/338] vs. 43.62% [154/353]). The incidence of suspected vaginitis in the experimental group was lower than the control group (15.29% [51/338] vs. 23.51% [83/353]). Conclusion. For women without vaginal inflammation, the use of hemp cotton sanitary pads during menstruation can help maintain the balance of the vaginal microecology to prevent reproductive tract infections.