Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Sexual dysfunction in women partners of men with erectile dysfunction

Abstract

We evaluated 113 female partners of men with erectile dysfunction (ED) attending a sexual dysfunction clinic in order to define sexual dysfunction among these women. In all, 51 (45%) women denied having any sexual dysfunction. The other 62 (55%) responded to questions classifying their complaint(s) according to the international classification of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in the following topics (40/62, 65%, reported having more than one problem): decreased sexual desire (n=35, 56%), sexual aversion (none), arousal (n=23, 37%) and orgasmic disorders (n=39, 63%), dyspareunia (n=19, 31%), vaginismus (n=3, 5%), and noncoital sexual pain (none). Many female partners of men with ED report having some form of sexual disorder, mostly orgasmic problems and decreased sexual desire. Therefore, for optimal outcome of ED treatment, evaluation and treatment of male and FSD should be addressed as one unit within the context of the couple, and be incorporated into one clinic of sexual medicine.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Laumann EO, Paik A, Rosen RC . Sexual dysfunction in the United States: prevalence and predictors. JAMA 1999; 281: 537–544.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Howton K, Catalan M, Fagg J . Sex therapy for erectile dysfunction: characteristics of couples, treatment outcome, and prognostic factors. Arch Sex Behav 1992; 21: 161–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chevret M, Jaudinot E, Sullivan K, Marrel A, De Gendre AS . Quality of sexual life and satisfaction in female partners of men with ED: psychometric validation of the Index of Sexual Life (ISL) questionnaire. J Sex Marital Ther 2004; 30: 141–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Berman JR, Berman LA, Werbin TJ, Goldstein I . Female sexual dysfunction: anatomy, physiology, evaluation and treatment options. Curr Opin Urol 1999; 9: 563–567.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Basson R, Althof S, Davis S, Fugl-Meyer K, Goldstein I, Leiblum S et al. Summary of the recommendations on sexual dysfunctions in women. J Sex Med 2004; 1: 24–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Berman JR, Shuker JM, Goldstein In reply to: . Female sexual dysfunction. In: Carson C, Kirby R, Goldstein I (eds.), Textbook of Erectile Dysfunction. Oxford, UK: Isis Medical Media Ltd, 1999, pp. 627–638.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Riley A . The role of the partner in erectile dysfunction and its treatment. Int J Impot Res 2002; 14 (Suppl 1): S105–S109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Taylor JF, Rosen RC, Leiblum SR . Self-report assessment of female sexual function. Arch Sex Behav 1994; 23: 627–643.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Basson R, Berman J, Burnett A, Derogatis L, Ferguson D, Fourcroy J et al. Report of the international consensus development conference on female sexual dysfunction: definitions and classifications. J Urol 2000; 163: 888–893.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sugrue DP, Whipple B . The consensus-based classification of female sexual dysfunction: barriers to universal acceptance. J Sex Marital Ther 2001; 27: 221–226.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Leiblum SR . Critical overview of the new consensus-based definitions and classification of female sexual dysfunction. J Sex Marital Ther 2001; 27: 156–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Leiblum SR . What every urologist should know about female sexual dysfunction. Int J Impot Res 1999; 11 (Suppl 1): S39–S40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Petrone L, Mannucci E, Corona G, Bartolini M, Forti G, Giommi R et al. Structured interview on erectile dysfunction (SIEDY): a new, multidimensional instrument for quantification of pathogenetic issues on erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res 2003; 15: 210–220.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Greenstein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Greenstein, A., Abramov, L., Matzkin, H. et al. Sexual dysfunction in women partners of men with erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res 18, 44–46 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901367

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901367

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links