Pre- and post-menopausal women who self-rated themselves as sexually satisfied scored higher on overall psychological well-being, positive well being and vitality states The Journal of Sexual Medicinal. Older Women Have Higher Well-Being Scores than Younger Women.
The study of 295 women sexually active more than twice a month was conducted by the Women’s Health Program at Monash University, Australia. It revealed a positive association between age and well-being, but a negative association for general health.
“We wanted to explore the links between sexual satisfaction and wellbeing in women from the community, and to see if there was any difference between pre- and postmenopausal women” said lead author Dr Sonia Davison.
The researchers recruited women aged 20-65 who identified themselves as satisfied or dissatisfied with their sexual function and whether they were pre- or post menopausal.
They recruited an equal number of women in each of the four subgroups.
Over 90% of women in this study reported their sexual activity involved a partner, and was initiated by the partner at least 50% of the time.
“We found that women who were sexually dissatisfied had lower well-being and lower vitality. This finding highlights the importance of addressing these areas as an essential part of women’s healthcare, because women may be uncomfortable discussing these issues with their doctor.”
This agrees with researcher Professor David Buss who expressed surprise how the success or failure of sexuality influenced women’s long term self-esteem.
Sexual desire and interest, pleasure and satisfaction was the biggest problem area. Both are inextricably related to most women’s overall sexual experience.
“The fact that women who self-identified as being dissatisfied maintained the level of sexual activity reported most likely represents established behaviour and partner expectation,” said Professor Susan Davis, a senior author of the study.
“It also reinforces the fact that frequency of sexual activity in women cannot be employed as a reliable indicator of sexual well-being.”
The benefit of treatment in women with sexual dysfunction cannot be measured simply by the frequency of sexual events, as women frequently continue to be sexually active despite a high level of sexual dissatisfaction.
This is why recent studies have used the frequency of self-reported satisfactory sex as a measure in recent studies.
However, the research cannot determine if the life dissatisfaction causes poorer sexual satisfaction or if the reverse is true.
“Pharmacotherapies aimed to treat sexual dysfunction may have secondary effects on well-being, and the reverse may be true.”
“This large study performed in the community emphasizes the role and importance of women’s sexual health in women’s overall health and well-being” said Dr. Irwin Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Previous efforts to improve female sexual satisfaction have been described as medicalization, he said.
“ Dr. Davison’s and co-workers’ research will help health care professionals appreciate the need for overall women’s healthcare to include women’s sexual health care.”
