Female sexual dysfunction

In recent years female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is increasingly being recognised. It has a detrimental effect on a woman's quality of life and includes a range of disorders, and therefore adequate screening and diagnosis of patients are necessary before appropriate treatment can be commenced. As the etiology of FSD is often multi-factorial, arising from a multitude of organic pathologies in addition to having an underlying psychological basis, the treatment is often multidisciplinary. An understanding of the etiopathogenesis is therefore imperative to management. In the past 20 years major changes have occurred in our understanding, conceptualization and treatment of sexual dysfunction. In this article we look at the prevalence, classification, etiology and management of FSD. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.