The Effect of Yoga and Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise on Sexual Function and Sexual Self-esteem of Reproductive-age Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Narges Sadat Tabatabaie, Fereshteh Rasti Borujeni, Zeinab Tavakol and 1 others
PMID 39161864WHAT IT FOUND
Adding yoga to pelvic floor exercises improved sexual function and self-esteem immediately after a 6-week program.
These gains were gone one month later. Pelvic floor exercises alone showed no significant change at any point.
Key findings
01The combined yoga and pelvic floor group had significantly better sexual function scores than the pelvic floor only group immediately after the intervention, but this difference disappeared one month later.
02Sexual self-esteem scores were significantly higher in the combined group immediately after the intervention compared to the pelvic floor only group, but no significant difference remained at the one-month follow-up.
03Pelvic floor muscle exercises alone did not produce a statistically significant change in sexual function or self-esteem scores within the group at any time point.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study had a high dropout rate, with 14 of the initial 60 participants lost to follow-up. The participants were all employees of a university in Iran, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations. The follow-up period was short (one month), so long-term effects are unknown. Blinding was limited to the analyzer; participants knew which group they were in.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that pelvic floor exercises alone improve sexual function or self-esteem, as this study found no significant change in that group. Additionally, do not expect the benefits of adding yoga to last after the program ends, as the gains disappeared one month later.