Sexual function is a model developed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, defining different aspects of the assessment of sexual dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction or sexual malfunction refers to a difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of a normal sexual activity, including desire, arousal or orgasm....

 comprises the following components.

Firstly, relevant aspects of sexual function are defined on the basis of a modified version of Masters and Johnson

Masters and Johnson

The Masters and Johnson research team, composed of William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s....

’s pioneer work. The aspects of sexual function defined as being relevant to the assessment include sexual desire, erection

Erection

Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...

, orgasm

Orgasm

Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

 and ejaculation

Ejaculation

Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...

.

Secondly, guidelines for assessing sexual function are suggested and divided into four stages.

Stage 1 deals with the documentation of the defined aspects of sexual function. The main questions are:

1. Is the function intact? For example: Have there been any occurrences of erections or orgasms during a given period of time?
2. If the function is intact, what is the frequency and/or intensity of the function? For example: How often has the person had an orgasm or erections during the given period of time and how intense is the orgasmic pleasure and erection stiffness compared to youth or the best period in life. The suggested explanations for the absence or waning of functions at this stage are physiological and psychological.

Stage 2 deals with the assessment of the frequency of different sexual activities, such as intercourse, within a given time frame. The possible explanations for an absence or a decreased frequency of sexual activities may include physiological, psychological, social, religious and ethical reasons.

Stage 3 it is estimated if or to what extent waning sexual functions and/or activities cause distress.

Stage 4, the association between the distress due to waning sexual function and well-being

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 and emotional isolation

Emotional isolation

Emotional isolation is a term used to describe a state of isolation where the individual is emotionally isolated, but may have a well functioning social network....

 is assessed.

These guidelines were constructed to assess male sexual function in relation with treatment for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

. However, the concept has been modified and adapted for females.