Sex among Asian men and women: the Global Better Sex Survey in Asia

OBJECTIVES:
To explore by a pooled subanalysis of the Global Better Sex Survey sexual aspirations and unmet needs of men and women from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

METHODS:
To qualify, respondents must have had sexual intercourse at least once in the past 12 months. Women must have had heterosexual intercourse. Data were weighted by population size between countries.

RESULTS:
Of 3538 Asian respondents (1776 men and 1762 women), 52% were aged <40 years, 40% were aged 40-59 years, and 8% were aged >or=60 years. The majority were married or in a relationship. Men and women reported having sexual intercourse 5.1 and 4.0 times monthly, respectively. Attraction to partner, foreplay, intercourse, and achieving orgasm were important to most men and women. Two thirds were less than very satisfied with their sex life, and 36% of men were interested in improving sex. For a good sexual experience, the man's ability to get and maintain an erection and erection hardness were important to the majority of Asian men and women. Few respondents reported using a prescription erectile dysfunction medication, but many showed interest in using these medications to improve their sex lives. A comparison between individual countries suggests that attitudes about sex differ from country to country, and between men and women in each country.

CONCLUSIONS:
Sex is very important to Asian men and women, but many of them are not fully satisfied with their sex lives and want to improve them.