“How much desire should I have?”: a qualitative study of low libido in postmenopausal women

ABSTRACT

We conducted 15 interviews and 3 focus groups (total N = 36) among women 60 and older with low libido to better understand the role that it plays in their lives. Interviews and focus groups were led by facilitators using open-ended questions. A codebook was developed, then codes were assigned to all data. We identified three themes. First, women reported that sex was an important aspect of their lives. Second, women desired to know what was “normal” with regards to sexuality and aging. Third, women were distressed by low libido, concerned that it could have negative effects on romantic relationships and self-image.

KEYWORDS:

• Postmenopause
• sexual function
• low libido
• qualitative

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the women who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work and its authors are supported by grants from the National Institute of Health [KL2TR001856], the National Institute on Aging [K23AG052628], and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute [K24HL123565]. The University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s research registry is funded by the NIH [UL1TR001857]. The University of Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center is funded by the NIH’s National Institute on Aging [P30AG024827]. The funding sources did not have a role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing.