Primary Sexual Disorders: Recognition and Treatment

Sexual dysfunction is a common complaint in women across different treatment settings and throughout the lifecycle. Defining normality in sexual response is extremely difficult and little data exists to guide the clinician encountering these complaints. The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) provides a useful classification for sexual dysfunction in both women and men. Female sexual dysfunctions defined in DSM-IV-TR are divided into disorders of desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain. This article defines the scope of the problem of female sexual dysfunction, discusses the diagnosis of various disorders of sexual function, and summarizes available psychological and physiologic treatments.