LGBTQ+ women veterans report fewer midlife sexual dysfunction symptoms

Key takeaways:

• Sexual minority vs. heterosexual women were more likely to report recent sexual activity and less likely to report sexual pain and recent vaginal symptoms.
• Both groups reported high sexual dysfunction distress.

Heterosexual midlife women veterans reported more sexual dysfunction and impact from vaginal symptoms and were less likely to be sexually active compared with sexual minority counterparts, according to findings published in Menopause.

“There is evidence that sexual minority women report similar rates of genitourinary or vaginal discomfort with sexual activity; however, there are also many studies that report that lesbian women participate in a wide range of sexual activities, including vaginal and anal penetrative sex, but also orogenital sex, masturbation and vibrator use, which may influence to what degree vaginal symptoms impact sexual functioning between sexual minority women partners,” Laura A. Muratore, MA, clinical research project manager at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues wrote. “It may therefore be particularly important to understand the multiple factors that can decrease sexual satisfaction and sexual functioning during menopause among women of different sexual orientations.”

Muratore and colleagues analyzed data from 232 women (mean age, 56 years; 73% white) who completed a cross-sectional survey evaluating midlife women veterans’ experiences with menopause and aging. All women self-reported sexual orientation, sociodemographic characteristics, vaginal symptoms, past-month engagement in sexual activity and pain from sexual activity.

Overall, 25% of midlife women identified as sexual minorities including lesbian/gay/homosexual (60%), bisexual (26%) or another unspecified sexual orientation (14%).

Compared with midlife heterosexual women veterans, sexual minority women were more likely to report past-month sexual activity (OR = 2.2; 95% CI, 11.13-4.3) and less likely to report pain during sexual activity (OR = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.16-0.32) and past-month vaginal symptoms (OR = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.17-0.66). In addition, sexual minority women were more likely to endorse lower impact of vaginal symptoms on sexual function compared with heterosexual women.

However, researchers noted that both midlife heterosexual and sexual minority women veterans reported high levels of distress from sexual dysfunction.

“Findings highlight that menopause and aging widely impact women veterans’ sexual health and functioning, but experiences may vary significantly based on sexual identity,” the researchers wrote. “Our study contributes to an emerging body of work that aims to understand the unique concerns of menopause aged sexual minority women and promotes the value of providing affirming health care to sexual minority women veterans.”