Women's Help-Seeking Behaviors for Sexual Health Issues and the Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study from Iran

Delay in help-seeking for sexual health issues may lead to relationship discord and impact the quality of life. The study aimed to explore the factors related to HSBs (help seeking behaviors) for sexual health issues and to determine the role of negative attitudes relating to sexual concerns in the HSBs of Iranian women. This cross-sectional study was performed in 2020. Participants were 390 randomly selected women from Rasht, Iran. The data were collected using a demographic and a sexual history checklist, the Female Sexual Function Index-6-item (FSFI-6), the Attitudes-related Sexual Concern Scale (ASCS), and a help-seeking behavior questionnaire. Formal help-seeking in women with sexual concern was 16.2% and 48.6% engaged informal HSB. Informal HSB was associated with younger age (OR = 0.93; CI = 0.89-0.97), having a university degree (OR = 3.42; CI = 1.89-6.18), sexual abuse in adulthood (OR = 2.59; CI = 1.07-6.26) and lower negative attitudes-related sexual concerns (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.32-0.87). Formal HSB was related to having a university degree (OR = 3.03; CI = 1.32-6.98) and history of a chronic disease (OR = 3.43; CI = 1.68-6.98). Negative attitudes relating to sexual concerns greatly impact informal HSBs of women, so it should be considered in their health care programming.