The Effect of Counseling Based on Sexual Self-Concept via Social Networks on Smartphone in Infertile Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Infertility can affect the physical, mental and emotional aspects of a person’s life. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sexual counseling via social networks on Smartphone in sexual self-concept of infertile women. METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, 80 eligible infertile women referred to the fertility centers of Alborz University of Medical Sciences from April to July 2018. They were randomly assigned into intervention) sexual counseling with routine infertility counseling) and control groups )routine infertility counseling(. Eight counseling sessions via social networks were held for both groups. The Snell’s sexual self-concept questionnaire was completed by participants before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed using SPSS 19 with a significance level of P<0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of women was 30.76±0.72 years and the most infertility duration was more than 36 months. The results of a repeated measure showed that there were significant differences in positive self-concept domain between the two groups during the time by comparing the means (120.4±17.9 versus 105.1±16.8). We also found an increasing trend of the scores in positive sexual self-concept domain (110.6±18.42, 120.1±18.7, 120.4±17.9) (P<0.001) and a decrease in negative sexual self-concept domain (24.3±7.87, 20.2±7.77, 19.65±6.97) (P<0.001) in intervention group. In the situational self-concept, there were no difference between the two groups during the time (P=0.06) CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the present study showed that counseling through social networks was effective in improving the sexual self-concept in infertile women, thus ameliorating the couples’ sexual relations. Trial Registration Number: IRCT20160503027728N9