Abstract
Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a multicausal and multidimensional problem affecting between 30–50% of American women (1,2). Based on the National Health and Social Life Survey of 1749 women, 43% have complaints of sexual dysfunction. Although this study has a large sample size and minority representation, it is limited by the cross-sectional design. In addition, women over age 60 were not included, and neither menopausal nor other medical risk factors were correlated with sexual complaints. Another study, which looked at 448 women over age 60, demonstrated that two-thirds of them were sexually inactive, 12% of married women had difficulty with intercourse, and approx 14% experienced pain with intercourse. Sexual activity was strongly correlated with marital status (3). Women over age 60 were less likely to have sex if their partner was of poor health and if they had low feelings of self-worth (4). Studies of older women have failed to include specific measures of female sexual arousal, orgasm, or satisfaction.
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Berman, J.R., Berman, L.A., Lin, H., Goldstein, I. (2001). Female Sexual Dysfunction: Epidemiology, Physiology, Evaluation, and Treatment. In: Mulcahy, J.J. (eds) Male Sexual Function. Current Clinical Urology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-098-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-098-8_7
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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