Researchers from Monash University reveals that half of the women in Australia suffer from sexually related personal distress. This new study shows that out of every five women, one woman is experiencing any female sexual dysfunction (FSD).
Women’s Health Research Program at Monash university conducts this study. For the first time, this study presents the overall picture of the sexual wellbeing of Australian women having the age from 18 to 39 years. Today the study is published in the international journal “Fertility and Sterility.”
The findings of the study showed that 50.2% of women in Australia suffer from some of the sexually related personal distress. This is usually linked to feelings of guilt, stress, embarrassed and unsatisfied due to sexual lives.
The results showed that 29.6% of women go through sexually related personal distress without having any dysfunction. 20.6 % are women who experience sexual distress with at least one FSD.
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11% of the women who enrolled in the study experienced sexual distress due to low sexual self-image, which most common form of FSD. Results of the cohort study showed that sexual related personal dysfunction such as desire, Arousal, responsiveness and orgasm affected 8%,9%, 3.4% and 7.9% of the women respectively.
Overweight, living with a partner, married or not married, obese and breastfeeding are the factors that were linked with sexual self-image dysfunction.
20% of women reported that they take psychotropic medication (antidepressants) which leaves a pervasive impact on their sexual life. The study showed sexual dysfunction is not caused by using oral contraceptive pills.
Susan Davis who is a Professor at Women’s Health at Monash University said that Sexual wellbeing is documented as a basic human right. It is a critical situation that one in every five women experiences sexual dysfunction and half of the Australian women suffer from sexually related personal distress.
He further added that this is a signal for the community as it highlights the mental condition of the women. Health professionals should openly talk about sexual stress and discuss the sexual health concerns of young women reluctantly.
The study was funded by the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation. Approximately 6986 women from Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales having age between 18 to 39 years participated in the study.
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A questionnaire is given to all the women which include the questions related to their desire, responsiveness, arousal, self-image, and orgasm. Participants were evaluated for sexually associated personal distress which gave a wide range of demographic information.
Women who were more conscious about their physical appearance seemed to be less confident about their sexual life and they showed more concern for their physical outlook during the intimacy, therefore, sexually they were less satisfied.
According to Professor Davis that if the woman who suffers from sexually personal distress and sexual dysfunction is left untreated then she had low quality of life in her older age.
He further added that the high prevalence rate of sexually distress women showed the importance of health care professionals especially those who are connected to any gynecology ward. They should be open to the women during their working hours for asking them about their sexual health concerns and then refer them to an appropriate pathway for resolving this issue.
