Does Testosterone Affect Sexual Function in Menopausal Women?

Testosterone and other reproductive hormones are associated with sexual function in midlife, menopausal women, according to a recent study.

In order to determine whether reproductive hormones are related to sexual function during the menopausal transition, researchers evaluated 3302 community-based participants between the ages of 42 to 52 years though the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)—a multi-ethnic cohort study of the transition of menopause hosted in 7 US sites.
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According to researchers, each participant had at least 1 ovary, an intact uterus, were not using exogenous hormones, and identified themselves as Black, Hispanic, White, Chinese, or Japanese.

Sexual function of the participants was evaluated through self-administered questionnaires during each of the 10 follow-up visits. Further, participants had their blood drawn in order for researchers to assess serum levels of testosterone, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), sex hormone-binding globulin, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate at each visit.

The study showed that sexual desire, arousal, and masturbation had a positive association with testosterone, while orgasm, arousal, and masturbation had a negative link to FSH.

“[Testosterone] was positively associated, supporting the role of androgens in female sexual function. FSH was negatively associated, supporting the role of menopausal status in female sexual function,” said the study’s authors.

“The modest associations in this large study suggest that the relationships are subtle and may be of limited clinical significance,” they said.

Investigators noted that pain during intercourse did not have any association with reproductive hormones and that estradiol was not associated with any sexual function domain measured.

The complete study is published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

Randolph JF, Jr, Zheng H, Avis NE, et al. Masturbation frequency and sexual function domains are associated with serum reproductive hormone levels across the menopausal transition. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 November [epub ahead of print] doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-1725.