The Effect of Sexual Counseling Based on the BETTER Model on Sexual Function and Quality of Sexual Life in Postmenopausal Women

November 29, 2025 updated by: Serap Kırıcı, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University
Sexual life, an integral part of overall health, remains one of the most neglected, undervalued, and problematic areas within today's healthcare system Various management strategies exist for managing sexual dysfunction, including behavioral, psychological, and pharmacological strategies, and researchers have used education and counseling interventions for this purpose. One such intervention is the BETTER model, which aims to collaborate with individuals experiencing sexual difficulties to address their problems. Discussing sexuality with individuals experiencing sexual difficulties and providing counseling services will significantly benefit healthcare professionals in promoting safe sexual practices, identifying existing or potential sexual problems, and addressing these issues

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

90

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women who are married, sexually active, and have a regular sexual life
  • Who are literate
  • Who are postmenopausal (the time period between one year after menopause and old age within the WHO's definition of postmenopause)
  • Who are more than one year postmenopause
  • Who are not over 65 years of age, which is considered the age limit by the WHO -Who agree to participate in the study
  • Who have entered menopause naturally-Who have scored ≤26.55 on the FSFI scale

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Being on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and not having stopped at least six months before the study
  • Having entered early menopause (before the age of 40)
  • Having a chronic systemic disease and/or a psychiatric health problem
  • Having a disability that makes communication difficult, such as hearing or language impairment
  • Having received any sexual education before or during the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: control group
Experimental: experimental group
The group that received sexual education based on the BETTER model
Other: The group that received sexual education based on the BETTER model
The women in the experimental group will be trained in groups of 5-6, in a designated classroom in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the relevant hospital, in four sessions, each lasting 45-60 minutes, with a one-week break. The training will utilize warm-up exercises, PowerPoint presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and discussions. All women in the training group will be given the opportunity to ask questions and express themselves. Evaluation of the training will be conducted through Q&A and verbal feedback from the women, and further training will be provided on the requested topics based on their questions.No intervention will be made to the women in the control group after the pre-tests.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measuring the impact of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model
Time Frame: two months

After sexual counseling based on the BETTER model, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) scale were administered to women in the experimental and control groups via face-to-face interviews. The administration time for each scale varied between 15 and 20 minutes.

Changes in the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) scale were measured two months after sexual counseling based on the BETTER model.

Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) It was developed by Rosen et al. as a multidimensional scale comprising 19 items to evaluate female sexual function. The scale includes six subheadings, desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. Each title was scored between 0 or 1 and six. The lowest and highest scores are 2 and 36, respectively. Higher scores indicated better sexual function. The cut-off value of the scale was 26.55. A total FSFI score of ≤26.55, it indicates sexual dysfunction
two months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measuring the impact of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model
Time Frame: two months

After sexual counseling based on the BETTER model, the Sexual Quality of Life-Female (SQoL-F) scale were administered to women in the experimental and control groups via face-to-face interviews. The administration time for each scale varied between 15 and 20 minutes.

Changes in the Female Sexual Quality of Life (SQoL-F) scales were measured two months after sexual counseling based on the BETTER model.

Sexual Quality of Life-Female (SQoL-F): Developed by Symonds et al., with Turkish validity and reliability conducted by Tuğut and Gölbaşı. It is a 6-point Likert-type scale with 18 items. Respondents consider their sexual life over the past four weeks. Scores range from 18 to 108. Higher scores indicate better sexual quality of life.
two months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 12, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 15, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

September 12, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 22, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 29, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

December 3, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

December 3, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 29, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Universi

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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