Prevalence and Risk Factors for Low Sexual Function in Women: A Study of 1,009 Women in an Outpatient Clinic of a University Hospital in Istanbul

Abstract

Introduction Sexual functioning is a common and multidimensional problem, associated with multiple biological, medical, psychological, sociocultural, political, economic, and interpersonal factors. Aim The study was planned to determine the prevalence and risk factors for low sexual function in women in an outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Istanbul. Methods Totally, 1,009 women over 20 years of age or their healthy female companions were interviewed in the outpatient clinics of the Department of Internal Medicine in a university hospital in Istanbul. Main Outcome Measures Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to evaluate sexual function. Results The mean age of women was 38.62 ± 12.82 and 22.2% of women were postmenopausal. The mean FSFI score was found to be 24.25 ± 9.50 out of a maximum total score of 36. Based on the total FSFI score, 43.4% of the women had scores less then 26. The mean domain scores were: desire 3.14 ± 1.47, arousal 3.60 ± 1.85, lubrication 4.53 ± 2.01, orgasm 4.02 ± 1.97, satisfaction 4.27 ± 1.64, and pain 4.69 ± 1.96 out of a maximum domain score of six. The rate of low sexual function by the age groups were 22% for those 20–29 years, 39.7% for those 30–39 years, 50.2% for those 40–49 years, 71.3% for those 50–59 years, 82.9% for those 60–64 years, and 87.8% for those 65 and over. Lower educational level, menopause, depression, presence of sexual dysfunction in their partner, and contraceptive use were found to be significantly associated with low sexual function in women. Conclusions The prevalence of low sexual function in women was found to significantly increase with age. The most significantly affected domains were desire and arousal followed by orgasmic problems, satisfaction, and pain, respectively.

Determination of Sexual Problems of Turkish Patients Receiving Gynecologic Cancer Treatment: a Cross-sectional Study

“…Additionally, longer period since the diagnosis and presence of another chronic disorders are significantly predictive of poor sexual functioning. This is consistent with other studies conducted in Turkey, which also found a significantly higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction in the presence of older age, lower educational level, unemployment status (Aslan et al, 2008;Erenel and Kitiş, 2011;Akkuzu et al, 2014). In the literature, consistent with the findings of the current study, it is reported that a large proportion of patients with gynecologic cancers suffer sexual problems (Barton-Buckle and Gustason, Reis et al, 2010).…”

“…In Turkey, as in most cultures, many healthy women without any physical diagnosis or disease have sexual problems (Yılmaz and Eryılmaz, 2004;Reis et al, 2010;Erenel and Kitiş, 2011). Because Turkey is a traditional societ, sexual experience before marriage is unacceptable particularly for young women, and women often engage in sex so as to meet the requirements of men (Aslan et al, 2008;Erenel and Kitiş, 2011). There are studies showing that patients with satisfactory sexual lives before treatment tend to have satisfactory sexual lives after treatment and are able to successfully cope with the effects of the cancer treatment on their sexual life (Corney et al, 1993;Helstrom, 1994;Yılmaz and Eryılmaz, 2004).…”

“…Under the influence of the social, cultural, and religious beliefs in Turkey, sexuality continues to a subject is considered a taboo (Aslan et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2010). Gynecologic and obstetric issues are seen as women's issues, not to be discussed with men.…”

“…Research examining the sexual problems of patients who receive gynecologic cancer treatment is also sparse in Turkey (Corney et al, 1993;Aslan et al, 2008). Therefore little is known about sexual problems of patients who receive gynecologic cancer treatment in Turkey (Corney et al, 1993;Yılmaz and Eryılmaz, 2004;Erenel and Kitiş, 2011;Akkuzu and Ayhan, 2013).…”

Função sexual e fatores associados à disfunção sexual em mulheres no climatério

“…Resultados discordantes são encontrados na literatura 9,22,[25][26][27] , mostrando que essas doenças estariam associadas aos piores escores de sexualidade. Tais resultados discrepantes podem ser atribuídos às diferenças metodológicas encontradas quanto ao tipo de questionário empregado (Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire 9 e FSFI 20,22,[25][26][27] ), à característica da população incluída (escolaridade mínima de 11 anos 9 , mulheres chinesas 20,27 , mais de 20 anos 22 , 20 a 60 anos 27 , sem outras morbidades 27 , tipo de diabetes 26,27 ) e ao tipo de análise utilizada (regressão logística 20,27 ).…”