[echidna]

This is re-typed from the book of abstracts produced by the 18th Congress of the World Association for Sexual Health/1st World Congress for Sexual Health, Sydney, April 15-19 2007. I have taken care to ensure accuracy but you should consult the original document before citing this work. Words in square brackets are mine.

As was indicated by a member of the audience, it is inappropriate to draw conclusions from mean questionnaire scores: the important number is the proportion of people who fall below the clinical cut-offs. This wasn’t discussed further so I’m not sure how to interpret some of the results presented. This work is part of a larger study and some data are still being analysed. Hopefully once that is complete the work will be published in a paper that clarifies this and addresses questions such as how the the scores are correlated.

(Note that the “psychiatric disorders” include diagnoses such as HSDD.)

Understanding asexuality: Sexual characteristics and personality profiles of asexual men and women
Gail A Knudson, Lori A Brotto, Jess Inskip
[University of British Columbia]

Introduction and Objectives
The study of people who identify as asexual has been very limited. The objectives of this descriptive study were to gather demographic data and personality characteristics of people who identify as asexual.
Methods
In this study, 187 participants (n=54 males, n=133 females) completed a series of online questionnaires from a link posted on the website of an online asexual network, the Asexuality [sic] Visibility and Education Network (AVEN: www.asexuality.org). Subjects completed a demographics questionnaire and based on these results were assigned a series of gender neutral and female- or male- specific questionnaires. These included the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), Personality Assessment Screener (PAS), Inventory of Interpersonal Problems - Circumplex Version (IIP-C), Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Female Sexual Distress Scale - Prototype II-A (FSDS-IIA), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR).
Results
Eighty [percent] of male respondents and 73% of female respondents indicated that their sexual orientation was asexual. The majority of respondents did not feel distressed by their sexual orientation (85% males, 75% females) and the majority (91% males, 74% females) reported being single. The majority of respondents have never engaged in intercourse (73%), whereas most (80% males, 77% females) reported engaging in masturbation. Mean FSFI total score and all IIEF subscale scores indicated significant problems with sexual functioning. Significantly more females (20.6%) than males (9.3%) reported having been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Both BDI and TAS mean scores fell below the clinical cut-off for both groups.
Conclusion
The majority of subjects identify as asexual although most engage in masturbation. Future research will focus on the relationship between lack of distress identifying as asexual and significant problems with sexual functioning as measured by the FSFI and IIEF.
Conflict of interest: none disclosed
Financial support/funding: Pfizer

[Mallard]

echidna said:

The majority of subjects identify as asexual although most engage in masturbation. Future research will focus on the relationship between lack of distress identifying as asexual and significant problems with sexual functioning as measured by the FSFI and IIEF.
Conflict of interest: none disclosed
Financial support/funding: Pfizer

I googled that FSFI and IMO, most of its questions are quite pointless for an asexual.

[M51]

Yeah, I remember that survey; a lot of people who took it were disappointed because the questions didn't really address anything we though pertinent.

I wonder what the general population percentage of people diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder is?

And it talks about significant problems in sexual functioning as if that is a terrible thing. If we don't plan on using it, who cares if it works?

But, at least it is something.

[Eta Carinae]

M51 said:

And it talks about significant problems in sexual functioning as if that is a terrible thing. If we don't plan on using it, who cares if it works?

And I really have to wonder what's being classed as a problem in sexual functioning. If someone's genitals are perfectly capable of working but rarely do because hardly anything turns the person on, that's not the same thing as somebody who physically can't get erect/lubricated/whatever.

[Mallard]

BTW, Pfizer is the manufacturer of Viagra.

[Islander9]

Really good to get an idea of what papers were offered at this conference, Appreciated.