Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Zahra Yazdanpanahi 1
- Zahra Beygi 2
- Seyedeh Zohre Sajadian 3
- Zahra Saheb Karam 3
- Mahboubeh Hajifoghaha 4
1 Maternal–fetal Medicine Research Center, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2 Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Islamic Azad University, Maybod, Iran
3 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
4 Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Background: Sexual function is the result of a complex relationship between the body and the mind. It can be affected by various dimensions of health, including spiritual health. In this study, we aimed to assess sexual function and its relationship with spiritual health and religious attitude in Iranian women.
Methods: The present descriptive, analytical research was carried out on 514 women in reproductive age, who had referred to the health centers of Shiraz, Iran, from February to September 2015. The participants were required to complete the Religious Attitude Scale, Spirituality Well-being Scale, and Female Sexual Function Index. The psychometric properties of these questionnaires were assessed in Iran. SPSS version 22 was used to analyze the collected data, and a P-value lower than 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.
Results: The mean score of spiritual health was significantly higher in women with a healthy sexual function compared to those with sexual dysfunction (P=0.03). Also, we found a significant relationship between spiritual health and sexual desire (P=0.007) and sexual satisfaction(P=0.03). A significant relationship was also observed between religious health and sexual satisfaction(P=0.03). Besides, the results indicated a significant association between existential health and sexual desire(P=0.002), sexual arousal(P=0.003), and pain(P=0.03). A significant relationship was observed between religious attitude and sexual function(P<0.001).
Conclusion: Given that sexual function is one of the basic components of women’s health in reproductive age that needs special attention. It seems that for improving it, taking effective measures such as paying attention to women’s spiritual health can have positive effects on their sexual function.
Highlights
Zahra Yazdanpanahi (Google Scholar)
Maboubeh Hajifoghaha (Google Scholar)
Keywords
- Nazarpour S, Simbar M, Khorrami M, Jafari Torkamani Z, Saghafi R, Alavi-Majd H. The association between sexual function and body image among postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study. BMC women's health. 2021;21:1-9. doi: 10.1186/s12905-021-01549-1. PMCID: PMC8650325.
- Yazdznpanahi Z, Beygi Z, Akbarzadeh M, Zare N. Investigating the relationships between obesity and sexual function and its components. Shiraz E Med J. 2016;17(9):e38573. doi: 10.17795/semj38573.
- Marandi A, Azizi F. The position, based on the difficulties of defining and spiritual health of the population-Islam. J Med Ethics. 2010;4(14):11-21. doi: 10.22037/mej.v4i14.3787.
- Assarroudi A, Jalilvand M, Oudi D, Akaberi A. The relationship between spiritual well-being and life satisfaction in the nursing staff of Mashhad Hasheminezhad Hospital (2011). Mod Care J. 2012;9(2):156-62.
- Nazoktabar H, Hosseini Dronkolaei Z, Babaei E. Analyzing the relationship between spiritual health, attitude toward pre-marriage relationship and marital boredom among married women. J Soc Psychol Stud Women. 2016;14(3):93-114.
- Amjad F, Bokharey IZ. The impact of spiritual wellbeing and coping strategies on patients with generalized anxiety disorder. J Muslim Ment Health. 2014;8(1):21-38. doi: 10.3998/jmmh.10381607.0008.102.
- Hoseini ASS, Razaghi N, Panah AHK, Nayeri ND. A concept analysis of spiritual health. J Relig Health. 2019;58(4):1025-46. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0522-x.
- Ghodrati F, Yazdanpanahi Z, Beygi Z, Akbarzadeh M. Association of religiousness and sexual disorders: A Cross-Sectional study on married women of reproductive age referring to public health centers of shiraz, south of iran. IJMSHR. 2016;5(12):382-8.
- Alorani OI, Alradaydeh MF. Spiritual well-being, perceived social support, and life satisfaction among university students. Int J Adolesc Youth. 2018;23(3):291-8. doi: 10.1080/02673843.2017.1352522.
- Jaberi A, Momennasab M, Yektatalab S, Ebadi A, Cheraghi MA. Spiritual health: A concept analysis. Journal of religion and health. 2019;58:1537-60. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0379-z.
- Jafari E, Dehshiri GR, Eskandari H, Najafi M, Heshmati R, Hoseinifar J. Spiritual well-being and mental health in university students. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2010;5:1477-81. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.311.
- Golzari N, Farahmand Parsa A, Golalizadeh Bibalan F, Fallah S. Role of Religious Health, Sexual Knowledge, and Sexual Attitude in Predicting the Sexual Function of Postmenopausal Women. HSME. 2020;7(1):16-24. doi: 10.29252/jhsme.7.1.16.
- Kermani Z, Danesh E. The effect of religious attitude and sensation seeking on marital adjustment of Pakdasht teachers. Psychol Stud. 2011;7(2):129-54. doi: 10.22051/psy.2011.1552.
- Au T-Y. Health-seeking behaviors and sexuality in rectal cancer survivors in Taiwan: associations with spirituality and resourcefulness. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2012;39(5):E390-E7. doi: 10.1188/12.ONF.E390-E397.
- Sauerheber JD, Hughey AW, Wolf CP, Ginn B, Stethen A. The Relationship Among and Between Marital Satisfaction, Religious Faith, and Political Orientation. The Family Journal. 2020;29(1):41-9. doi: 10.1177/1066480720939023.
- Del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes M, Santos-Iglesias P, Sierra JC. A systematic review of sexual satisfaction. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2014;14(1):67-75. doi: 10.1016/S1697-2600(14)70038-9.
- Abdolsalehi-Najafi E, Beckman LJ. Sex guilt and life satisfaction in Iranian-American women. Arch Sex Behav. 2013;42:1063-71. doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-0084-2.
- Hajifoghaha M, Yazdanpanahi Z, Babaei A. Assessment of adequacy of prenatal care utilization index and its affecting factors. Pak J Med Health Sci. 2018;12(2):924-9.
- Mazinani R, Akbari Mehr M, Kaskian A, Kashanian M. Evaluation of prevalence of sexual dysfunctions and its related factors in women. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences. 2013;19(105):59-66.
- Rezaei N, Janani F, Sharifi N, Omidi F, Azadi A. Sexual function and quality of life among postpartum women: a cross-sectional study. IJWHR. 2018;6(3):307-12. doi: 10.15296/ijwhr.2018.51.
- Mohammadi K, Heidari M, Faghih Zadeh S. Validity of the Persian version of female sexual function index-FSFI scale as the female sexual function index. Payesh. 2008;7(2):269-78.
- Babakhanian M, Ghazanfarpour M, Najafi MN, Dizavandi FR, Khadivzadeh T, Safaei M, et al. Psychometric properties of the Persian language version of the Female Sexual Function index among postmenopausal women. Journal of the Turkish German Gynecological Association. 2018;19(4):187-92.
- Taheri-Kharame Z, Zamanian H, Foroozanfar S, Afsahi S. Religious wellbeing as a predictor for quality of life in Iranian hemodialysis patients. Global journal of health science. 2014;6(4):261-9.
- Allahbakhshian M, Jafarpour M, Parvizi S. Spiritual well-being of patients with multiple sclerosis. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research. 2011;16(3):202.
- Biglari-Abhari M, Fisher JW, Kheiltash A, Nojomi M. Validation of the Persian version of spiritual well-being questionnaires. Iranian journal of medical sciences. 2018;43(3):276-85.
- Akbarzadeh M, Mokhtaryan T, Amooee S, Moshfeghy Z, Zare N. Investigation of the effect of religious doctrines on religious knowledge and attitude and postpartum blues in primiparous women. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research. 2015;20(5):570-6.
- Ahmadshirvani M, Bagherinesami M. Sexual dysfunction and related factors among breast feeding women. The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. 2011;14(5):38-44.
- Amirkhani Z, Jangholi E, Ramezi P, Shafiei M, Saberi M, Sadreddini N, et al. Prevalence survey of sexual dysfunction among women in the reproductive age group referred to the Islamic Azad university hospital during 2011-2012. GMJ. 2014;3(1):14-9.
- Mojdeh F, Mohamadi SZ. The relationship between depression and sexual function index among married women. Avicenna Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Care. 2013;21(1):41-51.
- Kaviani M, Rahnavard T, Azima S, Emamghoreishi M, Asadi N, Sayadi M. The effect of education on sexual health of women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder: A randomized controlled trial. International journal of community based nursing and midwifery. 2014;2(2):94-102.
- Tafazoli M, Parnan A, Azmoude E. Sexual function and quality of life in diabetic women referring to health care centers in Mashhad. Journal of education and health promotion. 2017;6(25):1-7.
- Bahrami N, Alizadeh S, Bahrami S. Sexual dysfunctions and associated factors in women of reproductive age. Advances in Nursing & Midwifery. 2012;21(75):9-15.
- Mernone L, Fiacco S, Ehlert U. Psychobiological factors of sexual functioning in aging women–findings from the women 40+ healthy aging study. Frontiers in psychology. 2019;10:1-13.
- Tabatabaeichehr M, Mortazavi H, Abadi MH, Moayed L. Sexual Desire and Related Factors in Middle-Aged and Elderly Married Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran. Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences. 2018;6(10):1906-11. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2018.383. PMID: 30455772; PMCID: PMCPmc6236044.
- Broumandfar K, Farajzadegan Z, Hoseini H, Ghaed Rahmati M. Reviewing sexual function after delivery and its association with some of the demographic marital satisfaction factors. Alborz University Medical Journal. 2012;1(2):93-9.
- Hoesni SM, Kasim AC, Zakaria SM. Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Well-Being and Marital Satisfaction among Urban Malays in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 2021;11(4):1261-73.
- Ghiasi A, Keramat A. Prevalence of sexual dysfunction among reproductive-age women in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of midwifery & reproductive health. 2018;6(3): 1296-304.
- Mohammadian S, Dolatshahi B. Sexual problems in Tehran: Prevalence and associated factors. Journal of education and health promotion. 2019;8:217-28.
- Latifnejad-Roudsari RL, Javadnoori M, Hasanpour M, Hazavehei SMM, Taghipour A. Socio-cultural challenges to sexual health education for female adolescents in Iran. Iranian journal of reproductive medicine. 2013;11(2):101-10.
- Maasoumi R, Lamyian M, Khalaj Abadi Farahani F, Montazeri A. Women’s perception of sexual socialization in Iran: A qualitative study. Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences. 2020;2(3):221-33.
- Lou W-J, Chen B, Zhu L, Han S-M, Xu T, Lang J-H, et al. Prevalence and factors associated with female sexual dysfunction in Beijing, China. Chinese medical journal. 2017;130(12):1389-94.
- Kamyabinia Z, Azhari S, Mazloum SR, Asgharipour N. Relationship between religion and female sexual function at reproductive age. The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. 2016;19(10):9-19.
- Ghasemi F, Askarizadeh G, Mosavi-nasab SMH. Relationship of personality traits, religious attitude and sexual satisfaction with tendency towards divorcee in paramedic females. Journal of Research on Religion and Health. 2020;5(4):20-33.
- Sorokowski P, Kowal M, Sorokowska A. Religious affiliation and marital satisfaction: Commonalities among Christians, Muslims, and atheists. Frontiers in psychology. 2019;10:2798.
- Sümer ZH. Gender, religiosity, sexual activity, sexual knowledge, and attitudes toward controversial aspects of sexuality. Journal of religion and health. 2015;54:2033-44. doi. PMID.
- Yazdanpanahi Z, Shahamatmanesh M, Babaei A, Hajifoghaha M. Ethics and sentences in midwifery. Iranian journal of public health. 2015;44(4):598-9.
- Hajifoghaha M, Nahidi F, Alizadeh S, Golezar S, Dabiri F, Mokhlesi S-S, et al. Midwives’ educational needs in Iran: A narrative review. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research. 2020;25(1):1.