marital satisfaction in menopausal women with and without sexual dysfunction

Background & aim: The incidence of sexual dysfunction increases during the menopause period. Some menopause women are worried about the reduction of their marital satisfaction due to sexual dysfunction. Regarding this, the present study aimed to compare the marital satisfaction among the menopause women with and without sexual dysfunction. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 80 menopause women, using the convenience sampling method. Based on the Female Sexual Function Index, the women with a score of less than 23 were considered as suffering from sexual dysfunction (n=40). Additionally, those who scored 23 or more did not have any sexual dysfunction (n=40). Then, we compared the marital satisfaction of the two groups using the ENRICH marital satisfaction questionnaire. The data were analyzed by the independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test in the SPSS version 18. The P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of such variables as the participants' and their husbands' age, height, weight, body mass index, number of children, and the age of menopause (P>0.05). In addition, the two groups showed no statistically significant difference regarding the total score of marital satisfaction (t=-1.19, P=0.526). Conclusion: As the findings of this study indicated, the marital satisfaction of the menopause women was probably not influenced by sexual dysfunction. It seems that it is unreasonable for the menopause women to worry about the marital conflicts and disruption of family relationship due to sexual dysfunction.