Sexual response in women with spinal cord injuries: Implications for our understanding of the able bodied

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of psychogenic and reflex sexual arousal on women with complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and explores the effects of SCI on orgasm in women. Thirty women with SCIs and 10 able-bodied women participated in the study. Three individual experiments were conducted over a 3-day period, assessing (a) the impact of SCI on psychogenic sexual arousal, (b) the impact of SCI on orgasm; and (c) the impact of SCI on reflex sexual arousal. Results support the hypothesis that women with complete SCIs and upper motor neuron injuries affecting the sacral spinal segments and women with incomplete upper motor neuron SCIs had the capacity for refiex lubrication. Women with SCIs were significantly less likely than able-bodied women to achieve orgasm. However, there was not a significant difference among women with different SCIs to achieve orgasm.