[Sexuality in postmenopausal women in sub-Saharan Africa: example from Senegal]

In Africa, sex life after menopause remains an under-explored topic due to the fact that it is a taboo. This study aims to evaluate the quality of couple's sex life during menopause.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 320 postmenopausal women. The inclusion criteria were natural menopause. Patients who had experienced early or iatrogenic menopause were excluded. Investigation form was divided into 4 sections: social and cultural characteristics, clinical data, psycho-sexual data and therapeutic data. Comparison of proportions and chi-squared test with a significance threshold of less than 0.05 were used.

The average age of women was 60 years; the average age of onset of menopause was 48 years and the age of the menopause was 11.3 years. All woman suffered from climacteric syndrome. Hot flushes occured in 85.9% of women, vaginal dryness in 62.8% and urinary disorders in 52.5%. Only married women reported having sex with their partner (62.1%). Women had sex occasionally in 68.9% of cases, while 18.1% of women reported no sexual activity. Decreased sexual activity was due to partner's erectile dysfunction (62% of couples) and the lack of sexual desire (83.5% of women). Lack of sexual appetite and orgasm were also reported in 92% and 100% of cases. However, 93.5% of married women thought their life was bearable.

Marital status, dyspareunia, vaginal dryness and partner's erectile dysfunction have a significant impact on sexuality of menopausal women in Senegal.