Communication and emotional closeness linked to fewer low sexual interest problems

British women living with a partner are more than twice as likely to lack interest in sex compared to men living with a partner, according to a new study published in the BMJ Open . Women in relationships lasting more than a year are more likely to report lacking interest in sex than those in relationships lasting one year or less. The findings come from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) which is the largest scientific study of sexual health lifestyles in Britain. Natsal-3 was carried out by researchers at University College London, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and NatCen Social Research. The nationally representative survey interviewed 6,669 women and 4,839 men aged between 16 and 74 who reported at least one sexual partner in the past year. Overall, 34 per cent of women and 15 per cent of men reported lacking interest in sex. Half of these people - 62 per cent of women and 53 per cent of men - said that they were distressed by their lack of interest in sex.