Female sexual disorders: assessment, diagnosis, and treatment

Sexual health is important to overall health and quality of life. Sexual problems have been associated with relationship problems and may interfere with overall health and they may also be a marker for other undiagnosed comorbid medical conditions. In order for healthcare professionals to manage the sexual health concerns of their patients, it is important for them to understand what constitutes good sexual health. To that end, it is necessary to have a working knowledge of the evolving theoretical models offered to describe a healthy sexual response as well as an understanding of the neurobiology of sexual function. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Revised lists six primary female sexual disorders: hypoactive sexual desire disorder, sexual aversion disorder, female sexual arousal disorder, female orgasmic disorder,dyspareunia, and vaginismus. Despite a growing awareness of the high prevalence of sexual disorders they are not typically identified nor treated. There are a number of reasons why clinicians fail to identify and treat sexual problems including insufficient training in sexual medicine and communication skills, time-constraints, and embarrassment. Treatment for female sexual problems is usually individualized and may include a combination of office-based education and basic counseling, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and treatment of concomitant medical conditions.