Etiology of Female Sexual Dysfunction

Abstract

Women's Health (2013) 9(2), [135][136][137] imputed by item-specific means of the nonmissing values, and were separated into four age groups (18-30, 31-45, 46-55 and 56-85 years). In total, 1489 respondents (41.8%) were included in the analysis, with 244 monozygotic pairs (MZ), 189 dizygotic pairs (DZ) and 623 women whose co-twins did not participate.The FSFI-LL was used to assess lifelong sexual functioning. It assesses six dimensions of women's sexual functioning since they became sexually active including two items measuring desire, four items for arousal, four items for lubrication, three items for orgasm, three items for satisfaction and three items for pain with responses indicated on a Likert-type scale. Lower scores suggest greater sexual problems, and higher scores suggest fewer. A cut-off score of 26.55 is used to determine dysfunction from healthy function [8].Data were entered and analyzed with Stata (version 10, StataCorp LP, TX, USA). Mean differences in age and FSFI-LL scores between MZ and DZ twins were compared with unpaired two-tailed t-tests. All phenotypes except desire and arousal were either log-or square roottransformed, and standard age corrections were applied. Univariate genetic modeling was performed, which involved breaking the phenotypic variance of FSFI-LL scores into additive genetic, dominant genetic, common environmental and unique environmental components. The goodness of fit of the genetic models was evaluated, and Akaike's Information Criterion, a parsimony fit index, was used to choose the best-fitting models.Multivariate modeling, to examine covariation of FSD dimensions into genetic and environmental factors, involved cross-twin crosstrait correlations to obtain an initial impression, and use of three multivariate statistical models to formally quantify results. Initial correlationsThe authors discuss previous research showing differences in physiologic/genital versus subjective/cognitive sexual arousal in women, as well as differences in the areas of the brain activated in women versus men [1,2]. In addition, a significant proportion of women do not report distress although they meet other criteria for sexual dysfunction [3]. All of this information suggests sexual dysfunction may manifest as many different symptoms in various women. As such, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that female sexual dysfunction (FSD) may be related to various causative factors.The authors point out one previous small similar study that demonstrated a genetic contribution to FSD [4]. Two other studies demonstrated a modest genetic effect on orgasm frequency [5,6]. One important difference in the current study is the focus on lifetime sexual function [7]. In addition, this study used a multivariate twin model to examine the covariation of FSD dimensions between genetic and environmental components. MethodsParticipants were drawn from the TwinsUK registry, which consisted of unselected volun teers registered since 1993. These twins were comparable in disease prevalence, and demographic and lifest...

Pain Catastrophizing, Fear of Pain, and Depression and Their Association with Female Sexual Pain

“…Lately, the view on sexual pain has broadened and research has started to focus on both physiological and psychosocial mechanisms that might be involved in the pathogenesis of the condition (14)(15). This is in F o r P e e r R e v i e w accordance with our general current biopsychosocial understanding of sexual problems and dysfunctions as multifactorial conditions, encompassing biological, psychological, relational, and sociocultural factors (16). However, it It has become increasingly evident that despite the numerous biophysiological factors known to be associated with female sexual dysfunction (FSD), mood and psychological entities seem to correlate even more strongly with FSD.…”

“…A community-based study by Khandker and colleagues, for example, found that vulvovaginal pain was four times more likely among women with antecedent depression compared to women without (31) Yet, many of the studies remain limited by the design which does not allow any assumptions on whether depression is a consequence or a cause of sexual pain. Nevertheless, the repeatedly reported associations between depression and other FSD, as well as with other types of pain highlights the potential importance of depression also in the development of sexual pain and warrants further investigation (14,16,19,32).…”

Influence of COVID-19 pandemic on sexuality: a cross-sectional study among couples in Turkey

“…On the other hand, sexual dysfunction can be described as any condition preventing the individual from being satisfied by the sexual activity at any stage of the sexual relationship. In this manner, consistent evidence suggests that in addition to organic causes (vascular, hormonal, neurogenic, pharmacological) of sexual dysfunction, psychogenic causes, such as anxiety and depression also have a negative effect on sexual life, in both men and women [8,9].…”

A Systematic Literature Review of Health-related Quality of Life Measures for Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder

“…Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the most prevalent sexual dysfunction reported among women in the United States [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and is diagnosed as an absence or deficiency of sexual fantasies and sexual desire that is associated with distress. 7,9 HSDD affects approximately 1 in 10 premenopausal women 1 and has a prevalence higher than major depressive disorder ([MDD] 7.1%).…”