Karimi Mahdiyeh, Heshmatnia Fatemeh, Azima Sara, Akbarzadeh Marzieh, Thapa Subash
Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
Rural Health Research Institute Charles Sturt University Orange New South Wales Australia.
Health Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 20;8(3):e70587. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.70587. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Anxiety is one of the common mental illnesses affecting sexual functions among infertile women. Information and education interventions might be effective in facilitating their coping with anxiety disorder which lead to improved sexual functions and psychological wellbeing. This is the first trial to pilot-test the effectiveness of sexual health education, delivered through virtual sessions and educational booklets, in improving both psychological (reduced anxiety scores) and physical (increased sexual function) outcomes among women with infertility in Iran.
In this triple-blind pilot randomized controlled trial, 90 women seeking medical treatment for infertility were randomly divided into three groups: (a) control, (b) educational booklet, and (c) virtual education. Participants in the virtual education group received six sessions of sexual health education through educational video using the WhatsApp social network. The primary outcomes included anxiety and sexual function scores measured before and 6 weeks after the intervention.
The results showed that, after the intervention, mean state anxiety scores were significantly lower in the booklet (29.27 ± 4.5, < 0.001) and virtual education groups (13.77 ± 11.6, < 0.001) compared with the control group (49.26 ± 6.86). Similarly, mean trait anxiety scores significantly decreased in the booklet (27.03 ± 6.29, < 0.001) and virtual education groups (31.66 ± 11.63, < 0.001) compared with the control group (45.93 ± 6.52). Post-intervention, there were significant differences between the intervention and control groups in mean scores across four dimensions of sexual function: sexual desire, sexual stimulation, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. The virtual education and booklet groups did not show a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of state and trait anxiety, and sexual function.
Psychoeducation interventions via virtual education sessions or educational booklets appear to reduce the level of anxiety and positively affect sexual functions associated with infertility. Women seeking treatment for infertility may benefit from psychoeducational interventions, though further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.
The protocol has been registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20240915063041N1).
焦虑是影响不孕女性性功能的常见精神疾病之一。信息与教育干预可能有助于她们应对焦虑症，从而改善性功能和心理健康。这是第一项通过虚拟课程和教育手册进行性健康教育试点测试的试验，旨在改善伊朗不孕女性的心理（降低焦虑评分）和身体（提高性功能）状况。
在这项三盲试点随机对照试验中，90名寻求不孕治疗的女性被随机分为三组：（a）对照组，（b）教育手册组，（c）虚拟教育组。虚拟教育组的参与者通过使用WhatsApp社交网络的教育视频接受六节性健康教育课程。主要结局包括干预前和干预后6周测量的焦虑和性功能评分。
结果显示，干预后，与对照组（49.26±6.86）相比，手册组（29.27±4.5，<0.001）和虚拟教育组（13.77±11.6，<0.001）的平均状态焦虑评分显著降低。同样，与对照组（45.93±6.52）相比，手册组（27.03±6.29，<0.001）和虚拟教育组（31.66±11.63，<0.001）的平均特质焦虑评分显著降低。干预后，干预组和对照组在性功能的四个维度（性欲、性刺激、性高潮和性满意度）的平均评分上存在显著差异。虚拟教育组和手册组在状态和特质焦虑以及性功能的平均评分上没有统计学显著差异。
通过虚拟教育课程或教育手册进行的心理教育干预似乎可以降低焦虑水平，并对与不孕相关的性功能产生积极影响。寻求不孕治疗的女性可能会从心理教育干预中受益，不过需要更大样本量的进一步研究来证实这些发现。
该方案已在伊朗临床试验注册中心注册（IRCT20240915063041N1）。
