Problems with sexual function in people attending London general practitioners: cross sectional study
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Objectives To assess sexual behaviour, prevalence of ICD-10 diagnosed sexual dysfunction, associations between sexual and psychological problems, and help seeking for sexual problems in people attending general practice; to assess predictors of ICD-10 diagnosis of sexual dysfunction. Design Cross sectional study. Setting 13 general practices in London. Participants 1065 women and 447 men attending general practices. Main outcome measure Prevalence and predictors of ICD-10 diagnoses of sexual dysfunction. Results 97 (22%, 95% confidence interval 18% to 25%) men and 422 (40%, 37% to 43%) women received at least one ICD-10 diagnosis, but only 3-4% had an entry relating to sexual problems in their general practice notes. The most common problems were erectile failure and lack or loss of sexual desire in men and lack or loss of sexual desire and failure of orgasmic response in women. Increasing age and being unemployed predicted sexual problems in women, and bisexual orientation, being non-white, and being unemployed were demographic predictors in men. No practice note factors predicted sexual problems in women, but high consulting rate predicted problems in men. The main clinical predictors were poor physical function and dissatisfaction with current sex life in both sexes and higher psychological morbidity in women. When all factors were considered, increasing age (odds ratio 1.01, 1.00 to 1.02), physical subscale score on the SF-12 (0.98, 0.97 to 0.99), sexual dissatisfaction (1.9, 1.5 to 2.4), and scoring over a 3/4 threshold score on the general health questionnaire (1.5, 1.1 to 1.9)independently predicted an ICD-10 sexual dysfunction diagnosis in women. Being bisexual (4.1, 1.3 to 12.8) was the only independent predictor of an ICD-10 diagnosis in men. Conclusions Sexual difficulties are common in people attending general practitioners, and many people are prepared to talk about them with their doctors.
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Other surveys have reported orgasm problem prevalence rates ranging from 1.8% to 5.6%.
“Other surveys have reported lower rates, ranging from 1.8% to 5.6%. 41,52,59 e 61”
From Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction in Women and Men: A Consensus Statement from the Fourth International Consultation on Sexual Medicine 2015 (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In London, the prevalence of premature ejaculation in men 18 to 75 years old was 3.7%.
“The prevalence of PE varies from 8% to 30% for all age groups, except for 55% in 50- to 59-year-old men in one U.S. study 16 and 3.7% in men 18 to 75 years old in London. 52”
From Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction in Women and Men: A Consensus Statement from the Fourth International Consultation on Sexual Medicine 2015 (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
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- Authors
- Nazareth, I., Boynton, P., & King, M.
- Affiliations
- The Royal Free Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Nazareth, Irwin
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2003-08-21
- Volume
- 327
- Issue
- 7412
- Pages
- 423
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC181260
- OpenAlex
- W2156926268
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 10.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Urological Disorders and Treatments
- Keywords
- sexual dysfunction, sexual behavior, erectile dysfunction, loss of sexual desire, orgasmic dysfunction, help-seeking, general practice, ICD-10 diagnoses, sexual dissatisfaction, psychological morbidity, predictors of sexual dysfunction, age, unemployment, physical function
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Family Practice, Female, Humans, London, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological, Prevalence, Confidence Intervals, Odds Ratio, Patient Satisfaction
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