The prevalence of dyspareunia

Obstet Gynecol. 1990 Mar;75(3 Pt 1):433-6.

Abstract

A questionnaire regarding sexual experience and dyspareunia was sent to 428 women, of whom 324 (75.7%) responded. Ten refused to participate and one had never had heterosexual intercourse, leaving 313 evaluable responders. One hundred twenty-two (39.0%) had never had dyspareunia and 86 (27.5%) had had dyspareunia at some point in their lives which resolved, either spontaneously or with specific treatment. One hundred five women (33.5%) still had dyspareunia at the time of the survey, 51 of whom had had dyspareunia for their entire active sexual lives. Twenty-two (21%) rarely had dyspareunia, 58 (55.2%) occasionally had discomfort, and 25 (23.8%) had dyspareunia frequently or virtually all the time. Frequency of intercourse was not different among any of the groups analyzed, although 49 (48.0%) of the women reported a decrease in sexual frequency and 35 (33.7%) reported an important adverse effect on their relationships as a result of dyspareunia. Most of the women had not discussed their dyspareunia with a health care professional and were unaware of the cause of their problem.

MeSH terms

  • Coitus
  • Dyspareunia / epidemiology*
  • Dyspareunia / etiology
  • Dyspareunia / therapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Prevalence