The impact of sexual health education on sexual myths, sexual distress, and sexual quality of life in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial

This research was conducted to determine the effect of sexual health education on sexual myths, sexual distress and sexual quality of life in postmenopausal women. This research was conducted as a randomized controlled experimental study. The research was carried out in the province of Karaman, Turkey, between 1 April and 7 August 2022. The study group consisted of 124 postmenopausal women who were randomly assigned equally to the intervention ( n = 62) and control ( n = 62) groups Postmenopausal women in the intervention group received a four-week Sexual Health Education programme, consisting of sessions lasting 45–60 min once a week. No interference was made to postmenopausal women in the control group. The research tools included Personal Information Form, Sexual Myths Scale (SMS), Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), Sexual Quality of Life Scale-Female (SQoL-F). Sexual myths, quality of sexual life and sexual distress were assessed prior to the intervention and 8 weeks after the intervention. It was designated that the SMS and FSDS total score averages of the women in the intervention and control groups before the training were similar, the mean SMS and FSDS scores of the women in the intervention group after the training were significantly lower than the control group. It was established that while the mean SQoL-F scores of the women in the intervention and control groups before the training were similar, the mean SQoL-F scores of the women in the intervention group after the training were significantly higher than the control group. The study found that Sexual Health Education is effective in reducing sexual myths, sexual distress and improving the quality of sexual life. ClinicalTrials.gov, Trial registration: NCT05560178, Retrospectively registered 7 September 2022.