Combination of hormonal and psychological treatment for female sexual unresponsiveness: a comparative study

Thirty-two couples with the presenting problem of female sexual unresponsiveness were treated in a controlled study using a balanced factorial design. Treatment involved a combination of drug therapy and counselling. Half the subjects received testosterone and half diazepam, half received weekly and half monthly counselling. They were assessed before treatment, at the end of treatment and at six months follow-up. Those receiving testosterone did significantly better on a number of behavioural and attitudinal measures than the diazepam group. There were no notable differences in outcome between the two counselling regimes. There were no undesirable side-effects with the testosterone. Further work is needed to establish the indications for testosterone therapy for unresponsive women.