(001) Top 50 Most Cited Articles About Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Gong S , Yim S , Kabarriti A 
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD), as recognized by the American Foundation for Urologic Disease, consists of low libido, problems with sexual arousal, inability to achieve orgasm, and dyspareunia. Sexual function is an important aspect of life for many women and is closely correlated with overall well-being. This dysfunction is often underrepresented in the academic space when compared to male sexual disorders, such as erectile dysfunction (ED). As FSD spans the fields of Urology, Gynecology, Psychology, and Endocrinology, bibliometric analyses are an important resource to understand the vast body of knowledge by highlighting landmark papers.

Objective

The objective of this study was to identify key articles about FSD using citation number and bibliometric analysis to facilitate future scholarly efforts into more research on FSD through a multidisciplinary perspective.

Methods

We searched for articles in the Web of Science Core Collection between 1900 to 2023 using terms specific to FSD. We identified relevant FSD articles and selected the top 50 most cited (T50). A bibliometric analysis was performed to collect and analyze data about title, authorship, publication year, citation number, journal and impact factor, country and institution, study type, citation index, specialty, and conflict of interest. Citation index was calculated as citations/years since publication to determine citations per year.

Results

6,858 results were identified and T50 articles were published between 1997-2014 in 12 countries, across 32 different institutions, and in 20 journals. Most articles were published in 2007 while most citations occurred in articles published in 1999. The most cited article (4020 citations), The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A multidimensional self-report instrument for the assessment of female sexual function by R. Rosen, also had the most citations per year (174.78 citation/year). The USA produced the most articles, specifically through University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Journal of Sexual Medicine published the most articles. The mean number of citations per article was 351.64. Observational studies were most common while reviews were least common. Less than half were sponsored. Of all the specialties that FSD spans, most articles were published in Urology & Nephrology, then Psychology, then Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research about FSD has been less impactful and influential than research about male sexual dysfunction, which is evidenced in the lower median citation number (209.00 vs. 364.00 citations, respectively) and total number of articles in WoS (6,858 vs 24,941 articles, respectively) for FSD compared to ED. Since FSD and male sexual dysfunction have about equal prevalence, this disparity may be due to the reluctance of female patients to discuss sexual issues due to shame.

Conclusions

This is the first bibliometric analysis to identify the characteristics of T50 articles in FSD. This list emphasizes the lack of attention that FSD has had in medical research and underscores the obvious discrepancy between research into FSD and male sexual dysfunction. We hope to provide healthcare professionals with a valuable resource to understand the vast body of knowledge and trajectory of FSD to guide future research and education.

Disclosure

No.