Personal factors that contribute to or impair women's ability to achieve orgasm

Abstract

This work aims to identify factors that contribute and those that impair the ability to experience orgasm during sexual activity. It compared women (n=96) aged 18-61 (M=38.5 years) in a stable relationship that, after a normal arousal phase, do not have an orgasm (OD) with those that do (OA) regarding sociodemographic data, sexual frequency, talking about sex with their physician, talking about sex with their partner, sexual education, masturbation, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, depression and anxiety. We found differences between the OD and OA groups with regard to level of education (P=0.022), sex education during childhood and/or adolescence (P<0.001), masturbation (P=0.017), sexual satisfaction (P<0.001), anxiety (P<0.001) and sexual desire (P<0.001). The final model of logistic regression for orgasm problems included the variables 'masturbation', 'high school', 'sexual desire' and 'anxiety'. Orgasm difficulties are influenced by personal factors, such as anxiety and low sexual desire. Increased levels of anxiety also increase orgasmic difficulties. Women who masturbate and/or have completed high school are considerably more likely to reach orgasm during sexual activity.