Dyspareunia and its consequences among female young adults in Switzerland – a cross-sectional study

Background/Objective(s)/Introduction: Dyspareunia is known to be highly prevalent, but knowledge about prevalences, consequences and etiology among young female adults (FYA) remains. This study aims to examine prevalences and key factors associated with dyspareunia in sexually active FYAs. Patients/Materials and Methods: We systemically evaluated data from a large representative sample of FYAs in Switzerland who participated in an online self-administrated questionnaire. Participants reported on behavioral, psychosocial factors as well as on sexual history and a structured comparison between FYAs with and without dyspareunia was performed. To assess sexual functioning, we used the Female Sexual Function Index-6. Results: We evaluated 2718 questionnaires, of which 2059 provided an answer on having dyspareunia or not. We found a prevalence of 35.1% for dyspareunia among FYAs. Cases who reported a lower number of lifetime sexual partners, who perceived the quality of their first sexual intercourse as poor, who accepted unwanted sexual encounters and/ or had a history of STDs suffered significantly more often from dyspareunia. After conducting multivariate regression analysis, both parents being non-Swiss and poor mental health remained statistically significant predictors for dyspareunia, with an almost 20% increased risk. Having a higher number of lifetime partners was associated with a 12% reduced likelihood to experience dyspareunia (p-value = 0.005; OR 0.88). Sexual dysfunction was found to be significantly more frequent in FYAs with dyspareunia (p-value = 0.001). Conclusions: Dyspareunia is highly prevalent among FYAs leading to significantly reduced sexual functioning. Further longitudinal research is essential to gain a deeper understanding of the causative influence of the various identified risk factors.