Acupuncture and Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Time-Series Study of Symptom Relief

Abstract

Background: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) includes disturbances in the sexual response cycle resulting in marked distress and interpersonal difficulty capable of altering quality of life adversely. FSD is a common phenomenon affecting up to 26%-71% of the general female population worldwide. The umbrella term FSD subsumes four disorders: (1) hypoactive sexual desire disorder; (2) female sexual arousal disorder; (3) orgasmic disorder; and (4) sexual pain disorder. Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to assess immediate and longer-term effects of acupuncture quantitatively on symptoms related to female sexual dysfunction, using global-and specific-symptom instruments. Design: This was a time series study in a self-selected population of nonrandomized patients. Setting: The pilot study was conducted at a private women's health clinic in Reno, NV. Patients: Seventeen sequential subjects between ages 40 and 66 and clinically diagnosed with FSD were assessed at baseline and followed through time. Intervention: The intervention examined was a series of four acupuncture treatments. Patients were also administered five instruments to measure symptoms related to FSD before acupuncture treatment, just before the final treatment, and 3 weeks after the final treatment. Main Outcome Measures: Using internal controls, changes in symptoms over time were measured using multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures. Results: Acupuncture promoted reductions in multidimensional symptoms related to FSD. Sexual desire improved as identified by two instruments, the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female ( p = 0.01 for shortand long-term) and the desire subscale of the Female Sexual Function Index (short-term p = 0.002 and longterm p = 0.04). Psychological symptoms were also reduced, as measured by two separate instruments, the Greene Climacteric Scale (short-term p = 0.03, long-term p = 0.008) and the Menopause Rating Scale (shortterm p = 0.04, long-term p = 0.008). Acupuncture reduced anxiety in the short ( p = 0.03) and long term ( p = 0.01), reduced sexual dysfunction over the long-term ( p = .03), improved urogenital symptoms over the short-term ( p = .04) and somato-vegatative symptoms over the short ( p = .01) and long-term ( p = 0.03). Conclusions: Acupuncture was effective for reducing some FSD problems, compared to baseline. Active research on nonpharmaceutical alternatives-including acupuncture-for treating symptoms related to FSD are ongoing, and preliminary results are promising.

Women’s Health Nursing in Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices

“…Alternative medicine practices (acupuncture, homeopathy, ayurveda, Gua Sha, traditional Chinese medicine, etc.) are used in cases for the elimination of fecal incontinence, 32 treatment of overactive bladder, 33 improvement of sexual dysfunction, 34 treatment of pelvic pain in perimenopausal period, 35 and symptom management in gynecological oncology. 36…”

Evaluation of the effect of an antenatal pelvic floor muscle exercise programme on female sexual function during pregnancy and the first 3 months following birth: study protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

“…Sexual dysfunction is considered a public health concern [1, 2] and is defined as the disturbance in sexual desire and psychophysiological changes that characterise the sexual response and cause interpersonal difficulty and marked distress [3] which can affect the quality of life adversely [4]. The incidence of sexual dysfunction is estimated to range from 19 to 50% of the population, with a higher incidence in women (43%) than in men (31%) [5, 6].…”