Sexual Complaints and Ethnicity: Ethnic Differences in a Help-Seeking Sample

Sexual complaints are a widespread problem around the globe. Ethnicity and culture play a vital role in sexual complaints, in terms of presentation, treatment, etiology, meaning, help-seeking behavior, and treatment preferences.

This study investigates whether there are differences in the type of sexual complaints among Dutch people with various ethnic backgrounds, using a help-seeking sample from 16 outpatient clinics based in different regions in the Netherlands.

Differences in sexual complaints between various ethnic groups were analyzed separately for women and men, using logistic regression, controlling for age.

The primary outcome measures included sexual complaints determined as per the registered details of the Dutch Registry for Sexology Outpatient Clinics.

Both similarities and differences were found between ethnic groups. Dyspareunia was an important complaint among women from all ethnic backgrounds, as were erectile problems among men. For most complaints, however, modest yet significant ethnic differences were found.

Health practitioners need to be aware of this ethnic and cultural variation, while acknowledging variety within groups as well.

This study is the first to include a help-seeking sample large enough to investigate ethnic differences in sexual complaints in this level of detail. An important limitation is the fact that this study pooled together diverse groups of people into ethnic categories.

The differences found were significant, yet modest. We can state that ethnic background does play a role in etiology and/or help-seeking in patients with sexual complaints, as long as we maintain an open stance and acknowledge similarities between ethnic groups as well. Tijdink S, De Graaf H, Hehenkamp L, et al. Sexual Complaints and Ethnicity: Ethnic Differences in a Help-Seeking Sample. J Sex Med 2020;17:1676-1686.