OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new disease specific instrument, the female sexual desire profile (FSDP). METHODS: The FSDP is a self-assessment questionnaire containing eight items that address the occurrence of sexual desire and sexual receptivity. The study enrolled a total of 174 patients with hypoactive sexual desire disorder in 5 countries (Canada, UK, Poland, Hungary and The Netherlands) randomized to receive either active treatment or placebo. Patients completed the FSDP on a daily basis during the baseline and treatment periods. Standard psychometric analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis was undertaken to provide evidence of a single construct of desire in the FSDP. All FSDP questions loaded onto the factor in excess of 0.4. Three questions had high loadings in excess of 0.7 (items 2,4 and 5). The FSDP had good internal consistency, 0.72 for the baseline data and 0.86 for the treatment period. There was no indication of item redundancy. The FSDP scores showed a moderate correlation with desire domain of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for the baseline period (0.39) and treatment period (0.68). The FSDP was able to distinguish between high and low scorers on the FSFI at baseline (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The FSDP has shown good psychometric properties and is an appropriate measure of quality of life in this patient population. Further validation studies are planned to evaluate this new instrument in patients with female sexual desire disorder.