Age-Related Prevalence Rates of Sexual Difficulties, Sexual Dysfunctions, and Sexual Distress in Heterosexual Women: Results from an Online Survey in Flanders

Abstract

Introduction Although age-related prevalence rates of female sexual difficulties, i.e., difficulties with sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, or pain have occasionally been studied—with mostly inconsistent results—the age-related prevalence rates of female sexual dysfunctions, i.e., sexual difficulties that are associated with sexual distress, have not. Moreover, the association of age with sexual distress, i.e., distress due to sexual difficulties, has almost completely been neglected in epidemiological research. Aims The aims of the present study were to provide age-related prevalence estimates of sexual difficulties and sexual dysfunctions and to provide proportions of participants reporting sexual distress in heterosexual women. Methods An online survey comprising on sexual difficulties (i.e., low sexual desire, lack of responsive sexual desire, difficulties with lubrication, lack of subjective sexual arousal, absent or delayed orgasm, and dyspareunia) and associated sexual distress that enables us to classify respondents with sexual dysfunctions. Main Outcome Measure Sexual Functioning Scale. Results A total of 15,048 heterosexual women aged 16–74 years living in Flanders (the Nothern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) completed the online survey. This study revealed that all sexual difficulties and all sexual dysfunctions are significantly associated with age in women. Although most sexual difficulties and sexual dysfunctions increase with age, some display a U-shaped association with age. Furthermore, it was found that—except for lubrication difficulties—sexual distress was also significantly associated with age and that sexual distress is more common in younger women. Conclusion The association between age and sexual difficulties, sexual dysfunctions, and sexual distress in women is complex and deserves more attention from scholars.

The Sexual Impact of Infertility Among Women Seeking Fertility Care

“…For example, a study by Jiann et al 26 found that although overall rates of sexual dysfunction were higher for older women owing to lower desire, arousal, and lubrication, sexual satisfaction was actually highest in this same age group. Similarly, Hendrickx et al 27 found that although sexual difficulties and sexual dysfunctions increase with age, sexual distress was actually more common in younger women. Our study did not include a significant number of women at the menopausal transition and therefore there is large variance in the results for those women near menopause.…”

Sexuality in Older Adults (65+)—An Overview of the Literature, Part 1: Sexual Function and its Difficulties

“…In the studies that have assessed distress about sexual problems, a consistent finding has been that for most sexual difficulties, distress is less commonly reported in older women compared with younger women (Hayes & Dennerstein, 2005;Hendrickx et al, 2015;Mitchell et al, 2013). For example, in the U.K. Natsal-3 survey, 9.5% of women aged 65-74 reported being "distressed or worried" about their sex life, compared with 12.7% of women aged 45-54 years.…”

“…For example, in the U.K. Natsal-3 survey, 9.5% of women aged 65-74 reported being "distressed or worried" about their sex life, compared with 12.7% of women aged 45-54 years. Hendrickx et al (2015) reported that sexual distress was more common in younger women than in older women in their sample of 15,048 heterosexual women aged 16-74 years living in Flanders. With the exception of sexual difficulties, dyspareunia and lubrication difficulties, sexual symptoms were positively associated with age.…”

“…Although age is a significant predictor of most female sexual problems (Lutfey, Link, Rosen, Wiegel, et al, 2009;Peixoto & Nobre, 2015), some studies have reported either a ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 8 negative association (Ishak, Low, & Othman, 2010;Sidi, Puteh, Abdulla, & Midin, 2007) or a Ushaped relationship (Hendrickx, Gijs & Enzlin, 2015) between age and pain-related problems.…”

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“…Recent studies conducted in the Great Britain [19] and Flanders, Belgium [20] seek to address some of these gaps, assessing sexual functioning in larger samples of the general population. While the Flanders study reports age-specific prevalence of sexual difficulties and associated distress, the study draws inferences from a convenience sample of the population (online survey advertised through media channels), which raises concern regarding the generalizability of their findings [20].…”