The lifetime prevalence of psychosexual dysfunction among 55 to 57-year-olds in Iceland

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
• Main Authors: Lindal, E, Stefansson, J G
• Other Authors: Department of Psychiatry, National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer International 2011
• Subjects: Cohort Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Iceland; Incidence; Male; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Sexual Dysfunctions; Psychological
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/122619; https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00802098

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field In this study, the largest Nordic study of its kind, investigated psychosexual dysfunction among subjects aged 55-57 years. The cohort included 862 subjects of both sexes and all were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Results showed that 122 subjects had a lifetime diagnosis of psychosexual dysfunction. The lifetime prevalence of psychosexual dysfunction was 14.4%; of inhibited sexual desire, 9.8%; of inhibited sexual excitement, 3.5%; of inhibited orgasm, 2.1%; and of functional dyspareunia, 1.3%. Of the subjects with psychosexual dysfunction, 73% were women. The frequency was highest in those who had never married. Separated subjects had rates intermediate between the married and the never-married. The majority (76%) of affected subjects had only one dysfunction. However, 57% of them had received another psychiatric diagnosis at some time. Subjects with psychosexual dysfunction were less frequently diagnosed as suffering from alcohol abuse and dependence and social phobia than subjects with no psychosexual dysfunction.