Masturbation frequency and experiences among US women aged 40-65 years: comparisons across different stages of the menopause transition.

Abstract

Objective: The aims of the study were to assess the reported frequency of, and reasons for, masturbation and experiences of orgasm and sex toy use during masturbation and to compare these experiences across women at different stages of the menopause transition.

Methods: A nationally representative US sample of 1,500 women aged 40-65 (M age: 52.5 y) completed an online survey asking about their experiences during masturbation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and ANOVAs.

Results: Over half (55.8%) of the sample described themselves as postmenopausal, 22.7% as perimenopausal, and 21.5% as premenopausal. There were significant differences in the frequency of masturbation, with postmenopausal women reporting a lower frequency compared with the other 2 groups (P < 0.014). Postmenopausal women also rated the importance of masturbation in their lives as lower compared with perimenopausal and premenopausal women (P < 0.001). There were no group differences in the frequency of orgasm during masturbation, with women reporting orgasm an average of 81% of the times that they masturbated. Overall, more women reported that the quality of their orgasms had gotten better than worse over the last 10 years, and most noticed no change. More women reported that orgasm had become more difficult to attain, but about half had noticed no change. There were no significant group differences in the percentage of times that sex toys were used during masturbation (44.4% for the total sample).

Conclusions: Sexual pleasure and orgasm remain important for many older women and menopause is not always associated with adverse changes in sexuality, including the ability to orgasm during masturbation.