Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction: National Prevalence Study in Slovenia

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of female sexual function/dysfunction in Slovenia. The study began in June 2015 and was completed in December 2015. Design and Method: In relation to the national prevalence study, we received a letter of permission from the Republic of Slovenia National Medical Ethical Committee – NMEC. The validated questionnaire was used. All participants completed self-report measures that assessed demographic variables and six major dimensions of female sexual function (desire, subjective arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain) as experienced over the past four weeks. The 19 multiple-choice items are answered on a 5- or 6-Likert scale. Domain scores are calculated by summing the responses for the items on each domain, then scaling this total with a multiplier that constrains all domains to the same range. We used the following statistical analysis: demographic analysis, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and t-test. The sample included 632 respondents. Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is a measure of the strength of a linear association between two variables. Based on PCC we detected strong linear associations between arousal and lubrication (r = 0.885), lubrication and pain (r = 0.864), orgasm and arousal (r = 0.862), satisfaction and orgasm (r = 0.788), pain and arousal (r = 0.778), desire and arousal (r = 0.598). Conclusions: Based on schematic representation of Pearson correlations we could conclude that arousal play an important role within foreplay and consequently in sexual intercourse. Subsequently, an interesting finding is that the claim orgasm is not correlated to desire and vice versa.