Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) and collaborators nationwide have found that decreased sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women, is not clearly associated with cardiovascular disease.
This study appears in the April 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
Female sexual dysfunction is a common condition and has been linked to a higher burden of medical illnesses that can cause cardiovascular disease. In men, erectile dysfunction is clearly linked to the development of cardiovascular disease. Many of the same mechanisms known to be risk factors for cardiovascular disease are thought to be responsible for sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women, but this association has not been previously examined using prospective data.
Researchers examined data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Participants were sexually active postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years, recruited at 40 clinical centers throughout the United States and followed for 8-12 years. Based on responses to a baseline survey, subjects were classified as sexually satisfied or dissatisfied.
Researchers identified cardiovascular disease at baseline and over the follow-up period. The presence of cardiovascular disease was defined as a self-reported history of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or coronary revascularization procedure. Related cardiovascular problems, including congestive heart failure, peripheral arterial disease and angina were also examined.