Treatment outcome of secondary orgasmic dysfunction: A two- to six-year follow-up

Abstract

Sixty-six women reporting secondary orgasmic dysfunction and their partners, who received one of five group treatment formats, were sent questionnaires 2–6 years later. Thirty-eight of the women and 38 of the male partners responded to the follow-up questionnaires. Women who were not divorced and who did not receive additional treatment after group treatment (n =28) showed consistent increases across time in their ability to experience orgasm during intercourse, improving from a mean coital orgasmic frequency of 9.5% before treatment to 36.9% at long-term follow-up. Sexual harmony and coital frequency showed similar increases following treatment but had returned to near baseline levels 2–6 years later. Divorced women and women who received additional treatment (n =10) demonstrated greater declines in sexual harmony over the follow-up period than did their untreated counterparts. The subjects reported generally favorable reactions to treatment and stressed the importance of a treatment focus on communication and relationship skills. Regression analyses suggested the predictive importance of variables associated with the male partner's functioning. The implications of the results for clinical practice and for future research are discussed.