May 2024 · Volume 13 · Issue 5 Page 1351 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Kaundal A et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2024 May;13(5):1351-1359 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Review Article Female sexual dysfunction: a review Asmita Kaundal 1 *, Prachi Renjhen 2 INTRODUCTION Sexual health is an integration of physical, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of human life. A positive integration of all these domains is essential to enhance ones personality and live a happy and healthy life. 1 Any abnormality in the sexual function can significantly affects quality of life of the couple. 2 Any kind of physical, emotional or psychological issue can be associated with sexual dysfunction and vice versa. 3 Dysfunction related to sexual life are more commonly seen in women than in men. 4 A recent study shows that around 22.8% women suffers from one or more sexual difficulty, however only 3.8% of these women meet all the three criteria of FSD mentioned by DSM-V. 5 According to another study globally around 41% of women in reproductive age are suffering from sexual dysfunctions. 6 NORMAL SEXUAL CYCLE IN WOMEN Various models of sexual response in women has been described in the past. Most recent model is the one described by Bassoon which is a non-linear model in contrast to the earlier described models by Master and Johnson, Kaplan. 7,8 It is important to note that in women sexual cycle is complex and various stages may overlap with each other. Sexual cycle in a woman is divided into four stages desire, arousal, orgasm and refractory/resolution period. Desire consists of three components: sexual derive, sexual motivation and sexual wish. There could be number of reasons a women would agree or disagree to involve in a sexual activity other than spontaneous desire or sexual stimuli. 9,10 Her wish to be close to her partner (emotional intimacy), to respect and fulfill her partners desire and wishes, to increase her own well-being and self-image, appreciation by partner and sometime just to avoid or reduce the guilt of infrequent sex could be some of the reasons. 11,12 So either the spontaneous desire can lead to arousal or an appropriate stimuli of appropriate nature and duration can lead to responsive desire provided she could stay focused to the stimuli. 13 This model is also termed as incentive-based sex response cycle. 10 Continued sexual desire or positive sexual stimulation leads to arousal and excitement which leads to DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20241098 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AIIMS, Bilaspur, H.P., India 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, New Delhi, India Received: 06 March 2024 Accepted: 03 April 2024 *Correspondence: Dr. Asmita Kaundal, E-mail: drasmita_kaundal@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Sexual health is an important aspect of human life and to maintain a healthy and happy sexual life a positive integration of physical, social as well and psychological domains is very important. Any alteration in any of these domains can lead to sexual dysfunction which can significantly affect the quality of life of a couple. Many couples live with the problem and suffer silently due to shyness, stigmas, and social norms related to the issue. Many times even the treating medical professionals also do not screen for the sexual issues due to inadequate knowledge and training related to sexual dysfunction further increasing the burden of the disorder which remain undiagnosed. Sexual dysfunction can affect both men and women. Since the sexual cycle is complex in women both diagnosing and treating the female sexual dysfunction can often be challenging. Routine screening, meticulous workup and multidisciplinary approach is usually required to diagnose and mange sexual disorders. Keywords: Female sexual dysfunction, Hypoactive sexual desire disorder, Genitopelvic pain disorder, Dyspareunia