Prevalence of the Sexual Dysfunction and the Associated Factors in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Background: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by clinical, significant disturbances in sexual response, or the experience of sexual pleasure that cause significant personal distress. Although FSD among postmenopausal women is highly prevalent, healthcare providers and women are unlikely to discuss it. Objective: To study prevalence of FSD and factor associated with FSD in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional self-reported questionnaire about socio-demographic and general health status, attitude, and perception about sexuality and the Thai validated version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used among 241 postmenopausal women. Data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistics. The univariate analysis was done. The factors that had statistical significance (p<0.10) were included in the multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the factors related to FSD (p<0.05). Results: The prevalence of FSD was 84.23%. In multivariate analysis, the authors found the significant risk factors of FSD among postmenopausal women consisted of the attitude toward unnecessary sex after menopause (odds ratio [OR] 11.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.41 to 41.20, p<0.001), partner's social factor of retirement (OR 4.39, 95% CI 1.57 to 12.32, p<0.005), and partner's underlying medical condition (OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.17 to 5.69, p<0.02) (area under ROC=0.8835). Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of FSD among Thai postmenopausal women, and the associated factors came from the couple and cultural values of unnecessary sex after menopause.