Table 1.
Sexual desire-related items present in recent diagnostic criteria and validated rating scales∗
| Symptom list and item | Expert clinician sets |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criteria |
Scales |
Scales developed with direct patient input |
All 14 sets |
||||||||||||
| DSM-IV-TR38 | International consensus39 | DSM-540 | BISF-W41 | SIDI-F42 | DISF (SR)43† | SDI44 | GRISS45 | FSFI46 | CSFQ-F47 | B-PFSF48 | SFQ2849 | PROMIS50 | FSDQ15 | Overall frequency, n (%) | |
| Rater: C or S | S | C | C or S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | ||||
| Desire or interest in sexual activity (level, frequency) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X§ | X | X | X§ | X | X | X | X§ | 14 (100) |
| Sexual thoughts or fantasies | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 10 (71) | ||||
| Receptivity | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 (50) | |||||||
| Frequency of sexual activity | X‡ | X‡ | X | X | X‡ | X | 6 (43) | ||||||||
| Initiations | X | X | X | X | X | X | 6 (43) | ||||||||
| Becoming anxious or inhibited during sex | X | X | X | 3 (21) | |||||||||||
| Pleasure from sexual thoughts | X | X | X | 3 (21) | |||||||||||
| Desire for masturbation | X | X | X | 3 (21) | |||||||||||
| Distress about your level of sexual desire | X | X | X | 3 (21) | |||||||||||
| Physical affection; wanting sensual touch and caresses | X | X | 2 (14) | ||||||||||||
| Erotica | X | X | 2 (14) | ||||||||||||
| Frequency of partnered sexual activity compared with frequency of desire for same | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| How often you want to have sexual intercourse | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Pleasure from masturbation | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Satisfaction about desire | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Felt like having sex | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Felt sexually numb | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Looking forward to sexual activity | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Frequency of partnered sexual activity because of feeling desire for him | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Avoiding sex with partner | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Emotional closeness | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Important to fulfill sexual desire through activity | X§ | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| Compare with others your desire to behave sexually | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
| How long could you be abstinent comfortably | X | 1 (7) | |||||||||||||
BISF-W = Brief Interview of Sexual Functioning in Women; B-PFSF = Brief Profile of Female Sexual Function; C = clinician; CSFQ-F = Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire–Female; DISF (SR) = DeRogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning (Self-Rated); DSM-IV-TR = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision; DSM-5 = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; FSDQ = Female Sexual Desire Questionnaire; FSFI = Female Sexual Function Index; GRISS = Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction; PROMIS = Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System; S = self; SDI = Sexual Desire Inventory; SFQ28 = Sexual Function Questionnaire 28-item version; SIDI-F = Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory–Female; X = present.
Criteria sets for female sexual desire disorders published since 2000 and well-validated rating scales of female sexual desire have included 1 to 16 symptoms related to desire. All or most clinician-specified criteria sets and scales have included desire for sexual activity, sexual thoughts, receptivity, and initiations, but patient-derived scales have consistently included no items other than desire for sexual activity.
Items from the Self-Rated version of the DISF are included.
Clustered separately from sexual desire.
By oneself and partnered.