The effect of sexual health literacy on the sexual life quality of women referring to healthcare centers in Qazvin, Iran

Background: Considering the role of sexual quality of life in public satisfaction, improving interpersonal relationships, promoting the general quality of life, especially in women, and ultimately maintaining, consolidating, and promoting family and community health, the need to explain the factors affecting it, such as sexual health literacy, is felt from the perspective of women. This study aimed to determine the relationship of sexual health literacy on the sexual life quality of women referring to health-care centers in Qazvin.

Materials and methods: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The population of this study was 420 women of Qazvin in 2020 who were selected by multistage sampling. The data collection tool was a demographic questionnaire and the standard questionnaire sexual health literacy for adults and Sexual Quality of Life-Female questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22 and descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

Results: The mean (standard deviation) of the sexual health literacy score was 78.47 (17.85) and sexual quality of life was 59.71 (19.21). The results of logistic regression test showed that the variables of sexual health literacy, education level, age of marriage, and number of sexual intercourses per week were effective factors on the sexual quality of life (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Women with lower sexual health literacy, lower education level, higher marriage age, and women who had sex less per week had a lower sexual quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to these women in designing educational programs to improve the quality of sexual life.