The link among resilience, sexual function, and quality of life in menopausal women

The ability to overcome adverse situations (otherwise known as resilience) has been shown to have positive effects on overall health and quality of life. A new study found that resilience is also linked to sexual health and a better quality of life during the menopause transition. Study results are published online today in Menopause.

The menopause transition may be considered an adverse situation for most women because it involves a long process of adaptations that can cause negative feelings and a depressed mood. The transition to menopause involves physical, psychological, and social changes that can have a severe effect on a woman's overall quality of life. In addition, menopausal women are also more vulnerable to sexual dysfunction as a result of changes within their bodies during the transition.

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) can be defined as the inability of women to participate in a sexual relationship as they would wish. It is a multifactorial problem that may include lack of satisfaction with sexual activity, reduced sexual desire, pain with sexual activity, poor arousal, or difficulty reaching orgasm. Previous studies have shown that sexual satisfaction is associated with overall quality of life in menopausal women, with lower general well-being in sexually dissatisfied women.

This new study involving 101 symptomatic menopausal women, however, represents the first time that research has focused on the effect of sexual health on the resilience scores of menopausal women and their quality of life. It found that resilience scores were significantly higher in women with high sexual function scores and demonstrated that menopause-related quality of life was significantly worse in low-resilient women.

As a result, the researchers concluded that a woman's resilience is linked with her sexual health as well as her qualify of life during the menopause transition.

Study results are published in the article "Resilience and sexual health among menopausal women: a cross-sectional study."

"This study highlights the potential protective effects of resilience as it relates to sexual health in menopausal women. This capability enables individual women to adapt to change, resist the negative effect of stressors, and return to normal function more quickly after adverse events. Fortunately, this skill set can be strengthened, potentially representing another tool that clinicians can use to help women with sexual dysfunction," says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, NAMS medical director.