Investigation of the Effect of Counseling Given to Postpartum Women with the EX-PLISSIT Model on Sexual *

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of counselling using the EX-PLISSIT model on sexual problems experienced by postpartum women. The study collected data from a sample of 1062 women who gave birth at a Public University Hospital in 2017, using the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale and Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction Scale. The study was conducted in two stages, with 189 women in the first stage and 150 women in the second stage. Women in the intervention group received sexual counselling based on the EX-PLISSIT model. A statistically significant difference was found in the education level of the women and the age and education level of their spouses. Pain was reported by 14.7% of women during the pre-pregnancy period, 12.0% during pregnancy, and 26.7% during the third month after delivery. A statistical difference was found between the intervention and control groups in the sub-dimension scores of the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction, including communication, satisfaction, avoidance, touch, vaginismus, and orgasm, as well as the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale, including sexual desire, vaginal wetting/moisturizing, and satisfying orgasm. However, age, income status, marital age, marital type, marital adjustment, parity, and childbearing were not statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups. The study found that counselling with EX-PLISSIT had a positive effect on both sexual dysfunction and the quality of sexual intercourse.