What prevents sex after menopause
Scientists have found out why mature women often refuse sex
Anna Kerman, XX2 century, based on Medical News Today: Why women tend to avoid sex as they age
The authors of the new study decided to look into the reasons why mature women often lose interest in sex after menopause. The results of the work will be presented at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Association (North American Menopause Society), which will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The report will be delivered by the head of the study, Dr. Amanda Clark from the Center for Health Research Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research) in Portland.
In the course of the work, scientists studied the prevalence of the so-called urogenital menopause syndrome (MSM) among postmenopausal women, as well as the effect of this syndrome on the ability of patients to enjoy sex.
MSM is a collective name for a complex of disorders that manifest in the vagina or urinary tract of women who are in menopause or postmenopause. Common manifestations of MSM include difficulties with controlling urination and pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), which occurs due to the fact that the vaginal walls thin out with age.
Study of MSM symptoms in mature women
From May to October 2015, Dr. Clark and her colleagues interviewed more than 1,500 women aged 55 and over. The survey was conducted by e-mail. Almost half (48%) of the respondents reported that they had not had sex at all during the 6 months preceding the interview.
The women were interviewed within two weeks after a visit to a general practitioner or gynecologist. At the same time, the researchers selected respondents based on medical history data. During the survey, women were asked, in particular, about the presence in the anamnesis of symptoms associated with "genitals, urinary organs and sex." Some of the questions were taken from a questionnaire approved by the International Urogynecological Association (International Urogynecological Association), some were designed specifically to identify symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy.
Fear of pain makes mature women refuse to have sex
Among the main reasons for the lack of sex, the survey participants named the absence of a partner (47%) or a "lack of interest or physical inability" of a partner to have sex (55%). However, medical reasons also appeared in the answers. Thus, 7% mentioned "urinary incontinence or too frequent urge to urinate", 26% explained the lack of sex with "dryness in the vulva and vagina, irritation or pain", and 24% reported that dyspareunia is the main reason for refusing sex.
Sexually active mature women reported feeling "pain or discomfort", with 45% of them noting that unpleasant sensations during sex appear "usually" or "always". In addition, 7% of respondents noted that they felt signs of urinary incontinence during sexual intercourse.
Another common problem was vaginal dryness – it was reported by 64% of women who did not use artificial lubricant during sex.
In general, as the researchers note, both sexually active mature women and those who abstain from sexual life for some reason called the fear of pain the reason for refusing sex more often than the fear of the appearance of symptoms from the urinary system. More precisely, 20% reported anxiety about signs of atrophic processes and only 9% reported fear associated with the inability to control the bladder.
Dr. Clark and her colleagues concluded that "postmenopausal women report that [MSM] symptoms appear during sexual activity. Moreover, these symptoms limit the ability to lead an active intimate life and negatively affect the emotional experience received during sex."
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