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| Thursday, 29 September 2005 10:52 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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A national study has found that married women are more likely to have sexual difficulties than either single women or married men.
Researchers from University College London conducted a survey of 11,000 people between the ages of 16 and 44, to provide a glimpse of the problems suffered in UK bedrooms.
The results of the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal study showed that sexual relationships tended to suffer when the couple had small children to care for, while communication issues were also linked to difficulties in the bedroom.
Women were significantly more likely than men to admit to a short or longer-term problem with their sex lives and married or cohabiting women and mothers with young children were more likely to have problems than single women.
Among the problems cited by married women, a lack of control over decision making in their lives, not using reliable contraception, having small children in the house and not feeling able to talk to their partner were most prominent.
Married or cohabiting men were significantly less likely to say they had sexual problems than single men but those drinking more than the recommended weekly units of alcohol, and those who had had a sexually transmitted infection within the preceding five years were most likely to suffer sex problems.
The link between sexual problems and STIs is thought to be that some such infections can lead to pelvic pain, premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. The infection chlamydia is also thought to prompt feelings of stigmatisation, guilt, regret and “dirtiness” in men.
Dr Catherine Mercer, of the UCL Centre for Sexual Health and HIV research, told the BBC News website: "Some of the results we have found are logical.
"But this is the first time we have data which we can use to develop appropriate advice and to give options.
"This is representative data from the UK population - it's not just people attending STI clinics."
She added: "It's communication which was seen to be really important. A lot of people weren't able to talk about sex with their partners.
"Sexual dysfunction isn't always an individual's problem. It may be about a partnership issue."
David Goldmeier and colleagues, of the Jane Wadsworth Sexual Function Clinic at St Mary's Hospital, London, writing in Sexually Transmitted Infections, said: "Despite its prevalence, sexual dysfunction is often endured in silence.
"Studies in both the US and UK suggest that as many as 54% of women and 35% of men have problems, but fewer than 11% of men and 21% of women seek help."
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