Vaginismus and accompanying sexual dysfunctions in a Turkish clinical sample.

Introduction: Although vaginismus is a common sexual dysfunction in Turkey, there are only limited data about sexual behavior characteristics and comorbidity with other sexual dysfunctions in vaginismic patients.

Aim: To investigate the frequency of female sexual dysfunctions (FSDs) in a Turkish clinical sample and to determine the comorbidity of other FSDs in women diagnosed with lifelong vaginismus.

Methods: The study included 54 female patients who presented to a psychiatry department with sexual problems/complaints.

Main Outcome Measures: The subjects were evaluated using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers in order to assess sexually dysfunctional patients and included detailed questions about socio-demographic variables, and general medical and sexual history. All participants were also assessed using the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction.

Results: The most common primary FSD in our sample was vaginismus (75.9%), followed by hypoactive sexual desire (9.2%). Regarding comorbidity, in 36 female patients with lifelong vaginismus, we found dyspareunia in 17 women (47.2%), orgasmic disorder in eight women (22.2%), and sexual desire disorder in six women (16.6%) as a second sexual dysfunction, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision criteria.

Conclusions: With respect to FSDs within the Turkish clinical population, vaginismic patients constitute the largest group and cultural factors may play a role in the occurrence of this condition. Additionally, our data indicated that there was a strong correlation between vaginismus and dyspareunia. There was also a high frequency of hypoactive desire and orgasm disorder in vaginismic patients. These results suggest that multidimensional assessment of sexual dysfunction in female patients is of great importance.