Sexual health and intimacy in women with and without Dyspareunia

Despite growing studies on dyspareunia, there is still disagreement on the relation between dyspareunia and sexual health, especially with intimacy. This study compares the sexual satisfaction, function, distress, and marital intimacy between dyspareunia sufferers (D) and Pain-free (P.F.) women. A cross-sectional study in premenopausal women with self-reported dyspareunia (n = 167) and P.F. control women (n = 231) was conducted by online survey and face-to-face sampling in Iran between December 2020 and May 2021. Data were collected using a demographic checklist, self-reported dyspareunia, the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction (GMSEX), the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI-6), the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (FSDS-R), and the Marital Intimacy Scale (M.I.S.). In the D group, sexual satisfaction (P = 0.002) and sexual function (p < 0.001) were lower in all dimensions, whereas sexual distress (p < 0.001) was higher compared to the P.F. women. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in intimacy. Sexual pain was associated with younger age (OR = 0.84, P = 0.02), a lower education level (OR = 0.63, P = 0.01), more use medicines (OR = 31.46, P = 0.01), duration of pain (OR = 1.34, P = 0.01), and lower sexual satisfaction (OR = 0.95, P = 0.05). The only factor influencing intimacy was higher sexual satisfaction (OR = 0.59, p < 0.001). The study indicated that dyspareunia negatively impacted sexual satisfaction and function and caused sexual distress. However, it did not reduce intimacy. In this study, the only factor related to intimacy and the only modifiable factor related to sexual pain was sexual satisfaction. Cultural-based interventions for promoting sexual pleasure can lead to better coping with dyspareunia.