A Women's Sexual Pleasure And Satisfaction Shaped By Contraceptive
Methods
Medicalnewstoday.com,
Dec. 9, 2008. New data from The Kinsey Institute at Indiana
University demonstrate that many women think condoms undermine
sexual pleasure, but those
who use both hormonal contraception and condoms report higher overall sexual satisfaction.
The
study authors suggest that this inconsistency reflects how
women think about their contraceptive method when asked questions about two different
aspects of sexuality - sexual
enjoyment and overall sexual satisfaction.
When
considering overall sexual satisfaction, which goes beyond the
immediate sexual moment
and includes factors such as sexual self-esteem and
relationship satisfaction, women who used
both condoms and hormonal methods reported
the highest levels of sexual satisfaction.
On
the other hand, when asked directly about the effect of
contraceptive methods on sexual
enjoyment, women who used condoms, either alone or with hormonal methods, were far more
likely to report decreased pleasure, suggesting
women feel condoms make sex less pleasurable
. Those who used only hormonal methods,
such as the birth control pill, were unlikely to
associate their method with
decreased sexual pleasure.
The
study, published in November's issue of Sexual Health,
begins to answer questions about
contraceptive methods and women's sexuality -- an area
largely ignored by researchers.
"The
public health community has paid little attention to women's
sexual experiences with
contraceptive methods, especially condoms," said Stephaine Sanders, associate director
of The
Kinsey Institute and a co-author of the study.
"If women think condoms detract from sexual
pleasure, they may be less inclined to
use them consistently."
Findings
include:
-
Only 4 percent of women who relied on
hormonal methods of contraception
reported decreased
pleasure, but hormonal users reported the lowest overall
sexual satisfaction scores.
-
While 23 percent of women who used both
condoms and hormonal methods
reported decreased pleasure,
they had the highest sexual satisfaction scores.
-
Women who used condoms alone or along
with a hormonal method were six to
seven times more likely
to report decreased sexual enjoyment compared to those who
used hormonal methods only.
-
Women with no history of a sexually
transmitted infection were more than twice as likely to
report that their method decreased sexual pleasure.
----------------------------
Article
adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------
Authors
of the study include lead author Jenny Higgins, Princeton
University; Susie
Hoffman,
Columbia University; and Cynthia Graham, University of Oxford.
Source:
Jennifer Bass
Indiana
University
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