**Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunctions: A Systemic Approach**

Azita Goshtasebi1, Samira Behboudi Gandevani2,

and Abbas Rahimi Foroushani3

*1Department of Family Health, Mother and Child Health Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, 2Midwifery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 3Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Tehran, University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran* 

## **1. Introduction**

This chapter is intended to provide an evidence-based overview of the worldwide epidemiology of sexual dysfunction since the 1990s in general populations of different countries, allowing for the generalization of findings at the given population level. The descriptive and analytic literature on sexual function was identified through searching conventional databases, literature surveys and references. This chapter is organized as follows: we first review epidemiological concepts focusing on the issue of determining prevalence; then, we review the female and male sexual dysfunctions prevalence.

Since only recently sexual function and sexual problems have been openly discussed in most societies and cultures (Tiefer, 2001), few epidemiologic data exist until the middle of the twentieth century. The large population-based study of normative data on female sexuality was published by Kinsey and coworkers in 1953. Recent studies, however, have presented a more accurate picture of sexual dysfunction prevalence.
