The Association Between Female Sexual Dysfunction and the Husband's Erectile Dysfunction: Evidence from Married Couples in Hong Kong

Abstract

Little is known about the association between the sexual functioning of each partner in a heterosexual married couple. By using a community-based survey of Hong Kong Chinese couples in 2012, this study attempted to examine the relation between female sexual dysfunction and their husbands’ erectile dysfunction. Among the 1,518 female and 1,059 male respondents, 944 sexually active couples were eligible for the analysis, with mean age of 39.3 ± 6.8 years (range = 21–50) for the wives and 43.6 ± 8.6 years (range = 18–80) for the husbands. Of the wives, 27.0% reported at least one form of female sexual dysfunction and 5.0% of the husbands reported erectile dysfunction. After adjusting for the female's age and other risk factors, the total and domain scores of female sexual dysfunction were not associated with her husband's erectile dysfunction except for physical pain during sexual intercourse. Therefore, whether to screen the partner's sexual function depends on the age of the female clients.