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Waist-to-Hip Ratio Is Positively Associated With Bioavailable Testosterone but Negatively Associated With Sexual Desire in Healthy Premenopausal Women

From the Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Elizabeth Hampson, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2 Canada. E-mail: ehampson{at}uwo.ca

Objective: We examined whether high waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in women is a biomarker for increased testosterone (T) and higher levels of sexual desire.

Methods: Participants were 99 healthy nonobese premenopausal women. Trait levels of mean bioavailable T were estimated from three saliva samples collected at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, controlling for phase of the menstrual cycle. Sexual desire was measured with the Sexual Desire Inventory.

Results: WHR was positively, although moderately, correlated with bioavailable T. WHR, but not T, was negatively correlated with level of sexual desire.

Conclusions: These results confirm that the positive association between WHR and androgens seen in clinical populations also exists in the general population of healthy adult women. However, the relationship may not be strong enough in healthy women for WHR to serve as a useful biomarker of androgen levels in sexuality studies, especially given its association with other, perhaps negatively valued, morphologic attributes.

Key Words: testosterone • waist-to-hip ratio • sexual desire • central fat deposition • saliva radioimmunoassay

Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; T = testosterone; WHR = waist-to-hip ratio; HPA = hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis; CNS = central nervous system; SDI = Sexual Desire Inventory.