Sexual life of women with the Stein-Leventhal Syndrome

Abstract

The course of sexual socialization of 50 women suffering from the Stein-Leventhal Syndrome (SLS), on which the wedge resection of the ovaries was carried out, as examined using the HTDW (heterosexual development of women) questionnaire, did not differ from that of 50 normal women of the same age. Sexual life of SLS patients was examined using an interview and the SAW (sexual activity of women), SFW (sexual function of women), and SAI (sexual arousability inventory) questionnaires. Comparison with the findings in the control group showed that the average score in all the three questionnaires was within normal limits for both groups; the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Among 45 SLS patients who had sexual experience before the surgery, 42 stated that no pronounced changes occurred in their sexual lives after resection of the ovaries.

The average value of testosterone in the whole group (0.52 ng/ml plasma) was within normal limits. The level of the male sexual hormone tended to be higher in the subgroup of 19 patients with low orgastic capacity than in the subgroup of 31 orgastic SLS patients. The differences in the average scores of neurotic symptoms in the N₅ questionnaire between the SLS patients and the control group were not significant.

On the basis of the above findings, it is concluded that SLS patients, after wedge resection of the ovaries, are not more sexually arousable, more active, or more orgastic than medically healthy women.