Therapy of female sexual dysfunction.

Abstract

Female sexual dysfunction is a prevalent disorder with significant impact on an individual's health and wellbeing. Studies on the treatment of this disorder are infrequent and those that have been conducted lack scientific rigour due in part to the complexity of this area. There is a lack of simple assessment of both pathology and treatment outcome with poor correlation between physical effects and subjective outcomes. A variety of confounding factors exist in the study of female sexual dysfunction with emotional and relationship issues having significant influences on physical functioning. This review provides an overview of the current status of research into female sexual dysfunction since the initial documentation of the human sexual response by Masters and Johnson in 1966. The main aims are: - To examine current options offered for treating female sexual dysfunction and disorders and to determine their effectiveness based on available evidence. - To highlight those areas in which evidence is insufficient or unavailable in order to identify areas for future research.