J Korean Acad Womens Health Nurs.  1999 Jul;5(2):179-192.

The Sexual Life in Climacteric Women

• Park SA
• Kim MA

Abstract

Due to the ever increasing life-span of human beings, the average woman is living well into her 70's. Henceforth, they spend at least one-third of their life after menopause. Climacteric encompasses the time preceding, during, and proceeding menopause : a transitional period of shifting from the period of being fertile to the period of senescence. In other words, this is the time at which they lose the ability to reproduce. Menopause can influence a woman's sexual life immensely due to the physiological, social, and psychological changes that occur during that period. In korea, where some women still live according to Confucian Culture in terms of sexology, nurses can play a vital role in the dissemination of sexual facts to women. This study was designed to clarity the characteristic and satisfaction of sexual life. This was done according to the classification of three types of climacteric women : pre-meno-pausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal. I studied 159 climacteric women between the ages of 45 & 59, living in or around the vicinity of Taegu City. This study utilized the investigative tools for sexual life patterns which were constructed with field experts' consultation and reference review by the author. The sexual satisfaction was translated from DSFI. The climacteric symptoms were invented by Kupperman, This research is descriptive. The data was collected between July 15, 1998 and October 14, 1998. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and Pearson Correlations, and was computed with the SPSS program. The results obtained are summarized as follows; The frequency of sexual activity was highest in pre-menopause and declined after menopause. The frequency of genital caressing declined after menopause. The difference between the frequency of masturbation and coital pain was not significant according to the classification set forth in this experiment. Congruently, the frequency of orgasms declined after menopause. The mean satisfaction of sexual life is 27.1 years. The range of expected score is 9-45 years of age. Satisfaction was highest in the pre-menopausal group and proved to be statistically significant. Some of the general characteristics that affected the satisfaction a woman's sexual life in the climacteric stage during this project were ; age, income, satisfaction in younger pre-menopausal and the large income group than the other experimental groups. The climacteric symptoms were conversely correlated with the satisfaction in one's sexual life.

MeSH Terms

Aging
Classification
Climacteric*
Daegu
Female
Humans
Korea
Masturbation
Menopause
Orgasm
Premenopause
Sexology
Sexual Behavior