Female sexual arousal disorder

Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a disorder characterized by a persistent or recurrent inability to attain sexual arousal or to maintain arousal until the completion of a sexual activity. The diagnosis can also refer to an inadequate lubrication-swelling response normally present during arousal and sexual activity. The condition should be distinguished from a general loss of interest in sexual activity and from other sexual dysfunctions, such as the orgasmic disorder (anorgasmia) and hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which is characterized as a lack or absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity for some period of time.

Although female sexual dysfunction is currently a contested diagnostic, it has become more common in recent years to use testosterone-based drugs off-label to treat FSAD. It is a subtype of female sexual dysfunction. It occurs in distress due to the inability to attain or maintain adequate vaginal lubrication.

There are three types of FSAD which have been identified: genital arousal disorder, subjective arousal disorder, and combined arousal disorder.

With genital arousal disorder, there is still a mental feeling of arousal, but it is not matched by any physical response. For example, a woman may be "turned on" by her partner, but her vagina does not produce lubrication and there is little-to-no increase in blood flow to the genitals. Subjective arousal disorder is the reverse issue, where there is a physical response to sexual circumstances, but an inability to feel mentally aroused. Combined arousal disorder combines both genital arousal disorder and subjective arousal disorder, presenting as a lack of sexual feeling altogether, both mentally and physically.

A number of studies have explored the factors that contribute to female sexual arousal disorder and female orgasmic disorder. These factors include both psychological and physical factors.

There has been little investigation of the impact of individual factors on female sexual dysfunction. Such factors include stress, levels of fatigue, gender identity, health, and other individual attributes and experiences, such as dysfunctional sexual beliefs that may affect sexual desire or response. An individual's sexual activity is disrupted by overwhelming emotional distress resulting in inability to attain sexual pleasure. Sexual dysfunction can also occur secondary to major psychiatric disorders, including depression.

A substantial body of research has explored the role of interpersonal factors in female sexual dysfunction, particularly in relation to orgasmic response. These studies have largely focused on the impact of the quality of the relationship on the sexual functioning of the partners. Some studies have evaluated the role of specific relationship variables, whereas others have examined overall relationship satisfaction. Some studies have explored events, while others have focused on attitudes as an empirical measure of relationship functioning. Subject populations have varied from distressed couples to sexually dysfunctional clients to those in satisfied relationships.

Estimates of the percentage of female sexual dysfunction attributable to physical factors have ranged from 30% to 80%. The disorders most likely to result in sexual dysfunction are those that lead to problems in circulatory or neurological function. These factors have been more extensively explored in men than in women. Physical etiologies such as neurological and cardiovascular illnesses have been directly implicated in both premature and retarded ejaculation as well as in erectile disorder, but the contribution of physiological factors to female sexual dysfunction is not so clear. However, recent literature does suggest that there may be an impairment in the arousal phase among diabetic women. Given that diabetic women show a significant variability in their response to this medical disorder, it is not surprising that the disease's influence on arousal is also highly variable. In fact, the lack of a clear association between medical disorders and sexual functioning suggests that psychological factors play a significant part in the impact of these disorders on sexual functioning.