Orgasm consistency and its relationship to women’s self-reported and genital sexual response

According to the Incentive Motivation Model (IMM) of sexual response, the rewarding and pleasurable aspects of a sexual act strengthen its incentive value and capacity to trigger sexual motivation. One such sexual reward is orgasm consistency, the percentage of time that orgasm is experienced during a sex act. Orgasm consistency may serve to influence the incentive value of a sexual behaviour. We tested this tenet of the IMM by examining whether orgasm consistency predicted women’s sexual responses to films depicting various sex acts. Data were collected from four separate studies examining women’s genital and subjective sexual response. Participants ( N = 144, age range = 18–65) were presented with neutral and erotic film stimuli while their genital arousal was assessed using vaginal photoplethysmography or thermography. Participants reported their sexual arousal level before, during, and after each stimulus presentation, and completed questionnaires assessing sexual history and experiences, sexual interests, and sexual functioning. Orgasm consistency during penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) significantly predicted genital arousal to films depicting PVI, but similar relationships were not observed between genital or self-reported arousal and orgasm consistency during receptive oral sex and masturbation. Findings suggest that increasing orgasm consistency to a sex act may increase its incentive value, thereby triggering greater genital response to depictions of that act. Lack of consistent orgasm or generally pleasurable and rewarding sex may limit the capacity of sex acts to trigger sexual motivation in future sexual encounters, thus contributing to low sexual arousal and desire in women.

Understanding female sexual dysfunction, its causes and treatments

Female sexual dysfunction can greatly affect a woman's quality of life. Affected patients need a comprehensive assessment that includes taking a sexual history, medical evaluation and, if appropriate, a manual examination in order to diagnose, treat or identify factors relevant for each individual woman. There may be biological, psychological, emotional and relationship issues. Any biological factors such as vaginal dryness, pelvic floor dysfunction or chronic pain need to be addressed first to help prevent more complex problems developing. Sexual problems may be the cause of or the result of dysfunctional or unsatisfactory relationships. Psychological and emotional factors can create difficulties in sexual response and, equally, they can be the result of unaddressed or untreated biological/medical issues. Nurses working in urology need to be aware of the physiology involved in sexual response and know which conditions and illnesses are likely to affect sexual functioning and which treatments can help.