Sexual desire, distress, and associated factors in premenopausal women: preliminary findings from the hypoactive sexual desire disorder registry for women

Abstract

This article presents data from a validation sample of 390 premenopausal women clinically diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) enrolled in the HSDD Registry for Women. Participants completed validated measures of sexual distress (e.g., Female Sexual Distress Scale Revised, Question 13) and sexual function including desire (e.g., Female Sexual Function Index). Results showed that lower levels of desire in these women were associated with diminished sexual satisfaction, increased sexually related distress, and fatigue or stress in the women's lives. In addition, the level of distress related to sexual desire decreased with age. The authors conclude that even among women with clinically diagnosed HSDD, the level of sexually related distress varies with situational factors, such as stress and fatigue.