Abstract
BackgroundWomen’s sexuality may be adversely affected during the menopausal transition. This exploratory qualitative study was conducted to explore how women assign meaning to and process sexual motivation during the menopausal transition.MethodsWe purposefully approached 22 married women ages 44–59 (52.81 ± 3.6 years) in urban health care centers and workplaces in Tabriz city, located in northwest Iran. Individual face-to-face interviews were performed at a place and time convenient to the women. All interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed to create verbatim written accounts. Inspiring Graneheim and Lundman approach, we employed conventional content analysis to derive coding categories directly from our row data.FindingsFour main themes emerged from data analysis: “Diminished sexual capacity” (effect of menopause, Illnesses associated with mid-life, desire discrepancy); “intimate coupling” (lack of physical and/or emotional intimacy, couple communication and romance); “sociocultural scripts” (sexual script, parental responsibilities); and “sense of youthfulness” (having an active and happy life, maintaining physically attractiveness).ConclusionThe qualitative findings suggest that providing sexual health education and counseling, to encourage critical discussions regarding current sociocultural scripts and to create an environment that would enable men and women alike to adopt a healthy and happy lifestyle for eliminating barriers and preserving and enhancing motivational factors associated with sexuality.
Highlights
Women’s sexuality may be adversely affected during the menopausal transition
A total of 136 codes, 9 subthemes emerged from data analysis, which were classified into four main themes including: diminished sexual capacity, intimate coupling, sociocultural scripts and sense of youthfulness (Table 3)
Women pointed to diminished sexual desire, which they attributed to age-related biological factors that weakened their sexual capacity to engage in sex. This theme was illuminated further through the following three subcategories that women identified as salient during the menopausal transition: effects of menopause, illnesses associated with mid-life and desire discrepancy
Summary
Women’s sexuality may be adversely affected during the menopausal transition. This exploratory qualitative study was conducted to explore how women assign meaning to and process sexual motivation during the menopausal transition. Culture and gender are historically interwoven [1, 2]. This paper focuses on the meanings of sexuality for Iranian women who are experiencing menopause. Social contexts, values and norms may limit sexual expression and, suppress sexual motivation during the menopausal transition [3]. In Iran, religious culture forms the basis for most Iranians’ understandings of sexuality [1]. This paper reports findings from interviews with study participants about sexual motivation during the menopausal transition
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