The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Consultation on Sexual Function among Women: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common causes of family breakdowns. In recent years, various approaches have been proposed to resolve this issue. The present study was carried out in order to examine the effect of cognitive-behavioral consultation on sexual function among women who had referred to health centers in Hamadan. Method: A randomized clinical trial was conducted in two groups. It focused on 198 qualified women who had referred to selected health centers of Hamadan in 2016. The participants were selected by simple random sampling (99 people in each group).The intervention group received four 2-hour sessions of cognitive-behavioral group consultation. The required data were collected using a questionnaire of demographic characteristics and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). For ethical considerations, by the end of the study, sexual counseling for the control group was provided. To analyze the collected data, SPSS 13 was employed; t-test was used for independent samples. ANCOVA was also utilized. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The results showed that the two groups were not significantly different in terms of mean pretest scores in all domains, except for sexual satisfaction and total sexual function. However, after cognitive-behavioral consultation sessions, the intervention group experienced a significant increase in all behavioral domains and total sexual function as compared to the control group. Conclusion: Cognitive-behavioral consultation among women can play a positive and effective role in improving sexual relationships. Therefore, the effectiveness of this type of consultation can be confirmed with more certainty.