The status of sexual health literacy in Iranian women: A cross-sectional study

Context: Promoting of women’s sexual health literacy depended to the study of this variable. This study aimed to determine the status of women’s sexual health literacy and its dimensions.
Setting and Design: This cross‑sectional study conducted in health centers in Amol, Iran, from July to September 2019.
Materials and Methods: A total of 400 women of reproductive age who registered with Iran’s integrated health record system selected via two‑stage sampling technique. The Sexual Health Literacy for Adults questionnaire consists of 40 items regarding four dimensions of access, reading and understanding, analysis, and appraisal, and application was used to collect data.
Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed in SPSS version 16 using the descriptive and Friedman test with significance level of (P < 0.05).
Results: According to the results, 23.3% of the participants had insufficient sexual health literacy. The highest mean score of sexual literacy was related to reading and understanding, whereas the lowest score was related to the application dimension. There was a significant difference in the mean scores of various dimensions of sexual health literacy (P < 0.001). The mean rank of scores was lower for the application dimension in all age groups, education (except primary and secondary levels), and participation in training courses (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Approximately one‑fourth of the research sample had insufficient sexual health literacy, with their lowest score being related to the application dimension. Further studies should be designed to better perceive the application dimension of sexual health literacy and its effective factors.