Middle-Aged Iranian Women's Accounts of Their Sexual Health Care Practices: A Conventional Content Analysis
4409118.pdf

Authors

Sedigheh Moghasemi, Golestan University of Medical Sciences Giti Ozgoli, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Masomeh Simbar, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Malihe Nasiri, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
CONTEXT

Little research has been done to examine sexual health care among middle-aged women, particularly in developing countries that are socioculturally conservative, such as Iran.

METHODS

In 2015, as part of a descriptive qualitative study, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 17 women aged 40–65 residing in Golestan Province, Iran. Graneheim and Lundman's approach to conventional content analysis was used to interpret the sexual health care narratives of the women.

RESULTS

Sexual health care for middle-aged Iranian women often took the form of self-care to preserve their privacy and confidentiality, and in general, any information on sexual health was appreciated. Data analysis identified three main categories of strategies for sexual self-care: sexual risk protection, prevention of sexual problems and undesirability, and sexual information seeking. Also, sexual self-care emerged as the central theme.

CONCLUSIONS

To meet the needs of middle-aged Iranian women, health care providers should become familiar with such women's sexual health care and self-care practices. Socioculturally sensitive policies and interventions should be developed to improve the sexual and reproductive health care conditions of middle-aged women.

Author's Affiliations

Sedigheh Moghasemi is assistant professor, Reproductive Health and Midwifery Counseling Research Center, Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. Giti Ozgoli is assistant professor, Midwifery and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery; Masomeh Simbar is professor, Midwifery and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery; and Malihe Nasiri is assistant professor, Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery—all at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Guttmacher Institute.
Volume 44, Issue 3
September 2018
|
Pages 91 - 99

First published online:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1363/44e6718
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1363/44e6718