JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Sexual function is a complex physiological process controlled by neurovascular, and endocrine mechanisms that are affected by stressful events. There are social taboos related to sexual behavior in Jordan and the current knowledge on changes in Jordanian female sexual behavior during COVID-19 pandemic is limited.

Objective:

This study aims to evaluate the impact of COVID‐19 on women's sexual function during the early COVID-19 era in Jordan.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study that employed an online-survey to follow 200 females from general population. The survey evaluated the sexual behavior both during COVID-19 and 6-months prior to the pandemic. The data were analyzed using paired t-test, McNemar's test, Pearson's correlations and multiple linear regression using SPSS 25.

Results:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants’ sexual intercourse frequency increased while their sexual satisfaction was significantly reduced (p=0.049). There were no significant differences between the total sexual behavior mean scores during COVID-19 (15.73) compared to the pre-pandemic scores (15.85); p=0.412. The other categories of sexual function, including desire, arousal, satisfaction, orgasm, lubrication, and dyspareunia showed no significant changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to 6-months before. The total score of female sexual function during the pandemic was negatively associated with the participant’s age and education level. Correlations between female’s demographics and sexual function during the pandemic were identified.

Conclusions:

This is the first study exploring female sexual function during the COVID-19 outbreak in Jordan. The results suggest that COVID-19-associated stress is influencing women's sexual function, necessitating the provision of adequate emotional and physiological well-being support for women during similar crises.