More than a third of women in perimenopause, or who are postmenopausal, report having sexual difficulties, from lack of interest in sex to trouble having an orgasm. Painful intercourse is also reported in 20% to 59% of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.
This 13-year study examined whether a reduction in the frequency of sex is responsible for women’s symptoms of sexual pain during the transition to menopause. The study also examined other factors potentially associated with sexual pain.
There is a popular myth that women who don’t remain sexually active, especially through the menopause transition will lose their ability to have comfortable sex. But this study provides some empirical evidence against this popular notion.
This study gathered questionnaire data annually across the first 10 visits of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multicenter, multiracial, and multiethnic prospective study of the menopausal transition. Inclusion criteria for this study were those ages 42-52 years who self-identified as Black, Hispanic, Japanese, Chinese, or White.
Menopause Transition: Is Frequency Of Intercourse Linked To Painful Intercourse?
Of the 2,247 women with no sexual pain at the baseline, 1,087 (48.4%) developed sexual pain at least “sometimes” up to 10 follow-up visits over 13 years.
Participants completed questionnaires at each visit, gauging frequency of participation in sexual behaviors, genital or urinary symptoms, and pain experienced during sexual activity.
They also found that women were most at risk for developing sexual pain in late perimenopause and postmenopause, independent of age, and the use of systemic hormone therapy did not appear to reduce this risk of developing sexual pain.
Reporting of vaginal dryness had the strongest association with developing pain. Engaging in oral sex and having a higher frequency of arousal was associated with a reduced chance of developing sexual pain.
This study results show that women whose sexual intercourse activity declines do not appear to be at higher risk for developing sexual pain compared with women who maintain or increase sexual frequency.
Women and their health care professionals should focus on developing individualized strategies to prevent and treat sexual pain and not attribute pain to reduced intercourse frequency.
Source: Medindia
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