Aşkı Ellibeş KAYA, Ebru ZÜLFİKAROĞLU
Anatolian Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research - 2026;3(2):86-97
Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between selected genital self-appraisal indicators and core sexual complaints in women from Turkey, with particular emphasis on genital satisfaction, genital shame, and comfort with a partner seeing the genital area. Methods: This cross-sectional online survey represents a focused secondary analysis of an ethically approved parent dataset collected in Turkey. The analytic subsample comprised 330 women and reflected a digitally reached, predominantly highly educated, non-probability sample. Three selected single-item genital self-appraisal indicators were examined rather than the full female genital self-image scale total score. Core sexual complaints included low sexual desire, arousal problems, and orgasm-related complaints. Distressing complaints were defined using a revised nested definition requiring both symptom presence and at least moderate problem severity. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models were performed. Sensitivity analyses used the original 1-5 ordinal Likert scores. Results: Among women with valid genital self-appraisal data, 53.4% reported high genital satisfaction, 63.4% reported high partner genital comfort, and 23.0% met the threshold for genital shame. Overall, 37.3% had at least one core sexual complaint and 29.2% had at least one distressing core sexual complaint using the revised nested definition. In bivariate analyses, lower genital satisfaction score, genital shame, and lower partner genital comfort score were associated with greater complaint burden. In the adjusted model for distressing complaints, high genital satisfaction and genital shame showed directionally consistent but non-significant associations. Genital shame remained independently associated with orgasm-related complaints (odds ratio 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.14-3.94, p=0.018). Sensitivity analyses using ordinal scores supported the overall direction of the findings. Conclusion: Selected genital self-appraisal indicators, particularly genital shame, were associated with sexual complaint patterns in this sample. The findings should be interpreted cautiously because of the cross-sectional design, selected single-item measurement approach, and non-probability online sampling.
