First Treatment Guidelines for Low Sexual Desire in Women
UCSF-led recommendations outline therapies and treatment options for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.
For the first time, sexual medicine experts have created treatment guidelines and recommendations for women who experience low sexual desire or Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), a common yet largely undertreated issue experienced by women.
An international committee, led by UC San Francisco, produced a consensus paper that appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of Sexual Medicine Reviews.
The recommendations were generated during the International Consultation on Sexual Medicine (ICSM) and include medication-based treatments and hormone therapies, and psychological interventions such as sex therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based therapy.
HSDD can be caused by low desire, lack of response to erotic cues, low sexual initiation, and avoidance of situations that could lead to sexual activity.
“These clinical guidelines are the product of an international expert panel and are the most current and evidence-based review about a condition that is often misunderstood and undertreated throughout the medical community,” said Tami Rowen, MD, MS, first author of the paper and associate professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF.
The ICSM organized the consensus article to assist providers with evaluation and management of HSDD and highlight the many treatment options now available to women. The management steps require taking a biopsychosocial approach to evaluation and a clear understanding of the definition of HSDD. Recommendations for any treatments need to take the patient’s goals into account and balance the risks and benefits to each proposed treatment.
UCSF Center for Sexual Health treats its HSDD patients using guideline-recommended psychological, biomedical, and food or supplement-based interventions.
Additional authors: Carmita Abdo, MD, PhD, Faysal el Kak, MD, MS, Elisa Maseroli, MD, PhD, Rachel Pope, MD, MPH, Padmini Prasad, MBBS, MS, DABS, Julia Velten, PhD, and Linda Vignozzi, MD, PhD.
Funding: None declared.