Sexual Health Literacy, a Strategy for the Challenges of Sexual Life of Infertile Women: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Sexual health literacy enables an understanding and application of sexual health information and has benefits beyond health. Health literacy is an important element for achieving cognitive skills in health promotion. One of the most important problems in sexual health and sexual function in women is infertility. This study aims to explore the dimensions of sexual health literacy among women with infertility. Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, a total of 18 individual interviews with 15 Iranian women with infertility, and three key informants, were conducted in infertility centers in Rasht (the North of Iran). Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews using interview guide questions. Data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach. Results: Five themes emerged: informational needs of sexual health, information seeking, informational perception, validation of information, and information application. Sexual issues are taboo in Iranian culture. They are not taught in health and educational centers. All the participants believed that there was a lack of information about the sexual response cycle, preventing sexually transmitted infections, targeted intercourse, and consequences of infertility in sexual life. Participants mentioned the embarrassment, privacy, and lack of centers for sexual health as information-seeking barriers. Searching different sources and questioning the informants were ways for understanding information. Women evaluated the accuracy of the information by considering the validity of the source of information, comparing information from different sources, and asking the experts. They applied the information received about sexual health, satisfaction, and especially targeted intercourse to increase the chance of pregnancy. Conclusion: Sexual health literacy in infertile women includes different dimensions. It can help promote sexual health, satisfaction, and increasing the chance of pregnancy. [GMJ.2020;9:e1862]

Readability of online monkeypox patient education materials: Improved recognition of health literacy is needed for dissemination of infectious disease information

“…Health literacy is an important subject across all specialities, including both infectious disease and sexual health. Whilst not a sexually transmitted infection, PEMs created about monkeypox rely on patients having an ‘ability to understand sexual health information and application of that information’ to be able to make informed choices with regard to sex and safe sex practices, also defined by the WHO as sexual health literacy [ 24 ]. Electronic health literacy is also crucial in our increasingly technologized world, and refers to the processing and understanding of health information from electronic sources.…”

Investigating the structural validity and reliability of the sexual health literacy for adults (SHELA) questionnaire among a sample of women in Qazvin, Iran

“…For example, the tool developed by Dabiri et al suggested a four-factor structure (reading and understanding, access, information evaluation, decision-making, and information application) to measure sexual health literacy [12]; While the tool designed by Karimi et al [24]. introduced a structure of seven factors (access, reading, understanding, evaluation, [26]. On the other hand, the results of exploratory factor analysis showed that one item from "the evaluation and analysis" factor (I can properly transfer my learned knowledge about sexual health to others) was omitted due to insufficient factor loading (item number 29) because it was largely associated with communication skills which was a separate area of health literacy [27].…”

“…We also know that people must access specific resources and databases to be sexually literate. Rakhshaee et al showed that providing "the information needs" for women's sexual health was the most important dimension of sexual health literacy for them [26]; therefore, considering the low number of these sources and databases for women in Iran [3], this finding indicated the high need for women to increase access to sexual health information. In general, the present study examined and confirmed the variability of the factors of this questionnaire in the female population and showed that the factors could be variable if used in different populations.…”

“…The results showed that the BTS value was significant (df = 780, P < 0.001) and the KMO value was 0.969, suggesting the suitability of the data for analysis. Exploratory factor analysis determined three factors as follows: reading and understanding (9,1 0, 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25), evaluation and application of information (30,31,32,33,34,35,36 ,37,38,39,40), and skills of access (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,26,27,28) respectively with Eigenvalues greater than 1, which together accounted for 70.85% of the variance.…”

Prerequisites of sexual health literacy promoting service: a qualitative study in Iran

“…Therefore, the access and quality of sexual health services received have been one of the main challenges of delivering such services in Iran’s PHC system [ 17 , 18 ]. Given sexual health services are one the significant factors of providing and promoting SHL, and that SHL is a concept that is affected by contextual factors, society’s socio-cultural structure, and the target audiences’ traits [ 1 , 5 , 19 ], thus, the current study was conducted to describe the perceptions and experiences of health care providers and recipients for establishing the sexual health literacy services in health care services in future.…”