A cross-sectional survey of European women shows that surgically menopausal women are at increased risk for low sexual desire.
In the March 2006 issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers have published the first-ever multi-cultural prevalence study using multi-dimensional psychometrically valid outcomes to determine if women who undergo surgical menopause have a greater risk of low sexual interest compared with that of pre-menopausal or naturally menopausal women.
Naturally menopausal women experience decreases in their sexual function with aging. The authors concluded that surgically menopausal women, when compared to pre-menopausal or naturally menopausal women are at a significantly increased risk for low sexual desire and also decreased pleasure, and orgasmic difficulties. The research, in an article entitled, "Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Menopausal Women: A Survey of Western European Women," involved 1685 women aged 20 -70 years, living in France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Women who completed the "Profile of Female Sexual Function" questionnaire were classified as having low sexual desire using clinically derived cut-off scores for the desire domain. Women were then further subclassified as distressed or non-distressed, by completing the "Personal Distress Scale". Other outcome scales included a sexual activities scale.
In this landmark research, the authors found that surgically menopausal women were significantly more likely to have low sexual interest than pre-menopausal or naturally menopausal women, and more likely to have the condition Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Sexual desire scores and sexual arousal, orgasm and sexual pleasure were highly correlated demonstrating that low sexual desire is frequently associated with decreased functioning in other aspects of sexual response, referred to as "sexual comorbidity". Women with low sexual desire were significantly less likely to engage in sexual activity and significantly more likely to be dissatisfied with their sex life and partner relationship than women with normal desire.