the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the sexual function of women with maternal near miss: a randomized controlled trial

Background: there is evidence that maternal near miss (mnm) may adversely affect sexual function later in life. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy (cbt) on the sexual function of women with mnm. methods: forty-eight women with mnm were randomly assigned to 2 groups: cbt (n = 24) and control (n = 24). women in the cbt group received 8 counseling sessions based on cbt. data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the female sexual function index (fsfi). women were requested to complete the fsfi questionnaire before and after the 8-session intervention. a total score of > 26 was considered normal sexual function. the intervention started in june and was completed in october 2021. the shapiro-wilk test, independent t-test, chi-square test, and mann-whitney test were used to analyze the data. results: the scores of all components of sexual function improved in the cbt group compared to the control group as follows: sexual desire (3.77 ± .64 vs. 2.25 ± .53, p < 0.001), sexual arousal (3.72 ± .45 vs. 2.40 ± .48, p < 0.001), lubrication (3.13 ± .35 vs. 2.60 ± .36, p < 0.001), orgasm (3.11 ± .45 vs. 1.0 ± .42, p < 0.001), sexual satisfaction (4.25 ± .52 vs. 2.83 ± .81, p < 0.001), pain (2.36 ± .80 vs. 4.21 ± .54, p < 0.001), total score of sexual function (20.37 ± 1.44 vs. 15.3 ± 1.40, p < 0.001). conclusions: while cbt significantly improved the sexual function of women with mnm, their sexual performance score still did not fall within the normal range. our results indicate that women with a near miss may require additional counseling sessions or alternative interventions.