PHILADELPHIA — Surgically menopausal women under the age of 50 deserve special attention with regard to sexual desire disorder, results of a new study suggest.
“Physicians should routinely inquire about sexual function both pre- and postsurgery in these women,” said Sandra Leiblum, Ph.D., principal investigator in the study and professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.
“Surgical menopause plays havoc for women in terms of sexual desire, and when this is compromised, so are other aspects of their sexuality such as arousal, orgasm, and pleasure,” she said at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
In the study, sponsored by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, more than 1,200 women were surveyed about sexual activity and desire, relationship issues, and distress levels in association with these issues.
Dr. Leiblum and her associates compared responses of pre-menopausal women under the age of 50 years with those of naturally menopausal women aged 50 to 70 years and surgically menopausal women in two age ranges—20-49 years and 50-70 years.
The young surgically menopausal women had significantly less desire, more personal stress, and higher rates of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) than any of the other groups. Dr. Leiblum said roughly one-third of all U.S. women report low sexual interest, but not necessarily HSDD.
In the study, HSDD was present in one-quarter of the young, surgically menopausal women but only one in six premenopausal women of the same age and older surgically menopausal women. Naturally menopausal women had the lowest rate of HSDD at 1 in 10.
“Compared with women who do not have HSDD, women with this condition are 11 times more likely to be dissatisfied with their sex lives and 21/2 times more likely to be dissatisfied with their relationship,” Dr. Leiblum said.