The Science of Sexual Satisfaction
Categories of sexual function
Researchers and health care professional usually divide sexual complaints into four main categories:
- Desire, which refers to interest in sex
- Arousal, which refers to the physical changes, such as lubrication, and emotional changes people experience when thinking or participating in sex
- Orgasm/satisfaction
- Physical pain (2, 4–6)
Depending on the research, the categories may become more specific. For example, researchers examining physical pain associated with sex are usually interested in the specific location and onset of pain (6), as knowing more specific information can lead to better treatment or better understanding of the underlying cause.
Given how common sexual dysfunction is reported (about 4 in 10 women), a diagnosis of having sexual dysfunction disorder requires that the dysfunction seriously impacts a person’s quality of life (2).
Biological factors
Age influences a strong effect on our sexual life (2–5, 7–9). As people age, they begin to report more sexual dysfunction, particularly as they experience perimenopause, or the transition, and menopause (2–5, 7–9). This increase in sexual dysfunction is most likely related to not just changing hormones but also worsening health (2–5, 7–9).
Age doesn’t necessarily worsen all aspects of sexual function. For example, in study of over 2,600 Iranian women, women ages 50–60 were almost five times more likely to experience arousal dysfunction as compared to women ages 20–29 (5). However, in this same study, women ages 50–60 were only about half as likely to report a pain dysfunction as compared to women ages 20–29 (5). These results may be affected by socio-cultural differences among age groups, but they may also represent positive changes to the body that occur with age.
The menstrual cycle may also affect a person’s sex life. In a study of 43 heterosexual women, researchers found that as the hormone progesterone increased in saliva samples, participants reported that their sexual desire for their partners decreased (10). This result makes some biological sense, because progesterone levels increase after ovulation and during a time it is highly unlikely for sex to lead to a pregnancy, so a person’s body may not be as attuned towards having sex as during other parts of their cycle.
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