Prevalence

Sexual difficulties in women are extremely common. There have been a number of large-scale studies on women of various age ranges in an attempt to document the precise prevalence of such difficulties. An important factor to keep in mind when looking at the prevalence of sexual difficulties is that having a difficulty does not imply that the person is necessarily bothered by it. In other words, having a sexual difficulty does not necessarily imply sexual dysfunction as the DSM-IV requires persistent or recurrent distress in order to classify as a sexual dysfunction. Transient sexual concerns in women are common, and may be affected by temporary stressors, life changes, fatigue, medications, medical conditions, and relationship changes.

The Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey studied a random sample of 3,205 women aged 30-79 living in the Boston, USA region. The study found that 38.4% of sexually active women reported sexual problems in their life. However, only third of that group, or in other words 13.7% of the total sample of women, stated that they had sexual problems and that the problems were distressing and interfered in their life.

Sexual problems were more common as women aged, and were associated with depression, sexual and physical abuse, overall mental health, and use of alcohol.

In a different study in which the prevalence of sexual concerns was studied in 13,882 women aged 40-80 from 29 countries, significant cross-cultural differences were found in how common various sexual problems are. Lack of interest in sex (26-43%) and difficulties reaching orgasm (18-41%) were the most common sexual concerns. Difficulties with genital lubrication were found in 16-38% of women. Negative expectations about sex, depression, and negative feelings about the partner, were all significantly associated with all of the female sexual dysfunctions.

Note: Data taken from the following sources:

Lutfey KE, Link CL, Rosen RC, Wiegel M, McKinlay JB. Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Activity and Function in Women: Results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior 2008.

Laumann EO, Nicolosi A, Glasser DB, Paik A, Gingell C, Moiera E, Wang T. Sexual problems among women and men aged 40-80 y: prevalence and correlates identified in the Global Study of Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors. International Journal of Impotence Research 2005;17: 39-57.