Abstract
Female sexual disorders are prevalent in developed countries, affecting approximately 25–60% of women. Sexual function is an important aspect of quality of life, sparingly investigated in women compared with other quality-of-life areas. A growing interest in female sexuality, mediators and cellular mechanisms affecting the female sexual response is evolving. Increased research has provided appreciation of the complexity of the female sexual cycle and its impact on biologic, psychological and interpersonal factors. Female sexual function is age dependent and closely related to menopause, but dysfunction is also highly prevalent in premenopausal women and can be very distressing for younger women. Pelvic floor functioning is tightly linked to a healthy female sexual cycle and female sexual disorders have often been associated with concomitant pelvic floor disorders. The goals of this paper are to review the definitions, diagnosis and relationship between pelvic floor function and female sexual disorders, and assess the impact of pelvic floor reconstructive surgery on female sexual function.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.