Kinsey Institute study shows sexual pleasure remains important for women across menopause transition

Although there is a lot of discussion around negative aspects of aging and sexual problems, a new nationally representative study of 1,500 U.S. women aged 40-65 reveals that despite reporting masturbating less often, most post-menopausal women continue to experience orgasm at the same frequency and quality as their younger peers.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Kinsey Institute and published in Menopause, is among the first to examine masturbation, orgasm quality, and sex toy use across different stages of the menopause transition (pre-, peri-, and post-menopause). The findings offer several clinical and industry insights and suggest that promoting masturbation among older women may have several positive outcomes.

Key findings:

• Orgasm frequency during masturbation doesn't change with age, with most women reporting they reach orgasm 81% of the time on average regardless of menopause transition stage
• Peri- and post-menopausal women were more likely to say the quality of their orgasms improved rather than worsened in the last 10 years
• The percentage of time that sex toys were used during masturbation was very similar across the 3 groups, ranging from 41% to 47% with the most common types of sex toys being wand vibrators and rabbit vibrators
• Postmenopausal women were significantly less likely to have masturbated compared with both the premenopausal and perimenopausal groups, and rated the importance of masturbation in their lives slightly lower (3.5 vs. 4.2 on a 7-point scale)

These findings have several important clinical implications. Firstly, they underline the fact that many postmenopausal women continue to engage in self-stimulation, which previous research suggests can enhance well-being and ameliorate some menopausal symptoms. Secondly, underscore the need for health professionals to discuss the health benefits that masturbation can bring for older women. they indicate sex toys are becoming more acceptable in recent years although self-stimulation may still be considered taboo, especially for women in relationships. For industry manufacturers, the results indicate the importance of designing sex toys specifically for older women to make self-pleasure more accessible.