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Sleep disturbance and sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 29, page 126 (2017)Cite this article

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Sexual dysfunction (SD) is one among the most common medical conditions caused by both psychological and physiological factors. In women, SD is characterized by pain during intercourse, lack of sexual response and inability to achieve orgasm.1

In a study by Dombek et al.2 70.3% of postmenopausal women were found to have SD, particularly in relation to sexual desire and arousal. Moreover, the authors identified a number of risk factors for SD, such as being married, sexual abuse, bladder surgery and urogenital dysfunction. Although all these factors are important features associated with SD, we propose that obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) also needs to be recognized as a crucial underlying contributor to this condition.

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Acknowledgements

Our studies are supported by grants from Associação Fundo de Incentivo à Pesquisa (AFIP) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, #2015/02036-8 to JHSP, #2014/15259-2). ST and MLA received CNPq fellowships.

Author contributions

CH and JHS-P wrote the manuscript and researched the data; ST and MLA revised the article for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    C Hirotsu, J H Soterio-Pires, S Tufik & M L Andersen

Authors
  1. C Hirotsu
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  2. J H Soterio-Pires
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  3. S Tufik
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  4. M L Andersen
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Correspondence to C Hirotsu.

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Hirotsu, C., Soterio-Pires, J., Tufik, S. et al. Sleep disturbance and sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women. Int J Impot Res 29, 126 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2017.1

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