Comparing the Effects of Lavender Aromatherapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Sexual Function in Women in Iran

Objective

To compare the effects of aromatherapy with lavender and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for sexuality (MBCT-S) on female sexual function.

Design

Randomized controlled trial.

Setting

Health centers in Roudan city, Iran.

Participants

Sixty married women, ages 18 to 45 years, were recruited using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Participants were selected from health centers in 2022 via convenience sampling.

Intervention and Measurements

Upon their completion of a demographic checklist and the FSFI as a pretest, participants were divided into three groups, including lavender aromatherapy (n = 20), MBCT-S (n = 20), and control (n = 20) through random selection with permutation blocks. All groups completed FSFI as a posttest. Data were analyzed by SPSS 26 using chi-square, Wilcoxon, Kruskal–Wallis, and Mann–Whitney statistical tests.

Results

There was no statistically significant difference among the three groups before the intervention (p = .652), but there was a significant difference among them after the intervention (p = .001). There was a significantly positive difference between the intervention groups and the control group (p < .001). A significant relationship was observed among the three groups in sexual desire, pain, satisfaction, lubrication, and arousal. The mean scores of the posttest in sexual desire, pain, satisfaction, and lubrication were positively higher in the MBCT-S group than in the aromatherapy group, and both intervention groups showed the same effect for sexual arousal. Aromatherapy and counseling had no significant effect on improving sexual orgasm.

Conclusion

MBCT-S can be used to improve many aspects of female sexual function, except for orgasm disorders; aromatherapy may improve sexual arousal.