Investigating the effect of self-care intervention based on self-efficacy theory on self-esteem, happiness and sexual quality of life of menopausal women

Determining and comparing self-esteem, happiness, and quality of sexual life of menopausal women before intervention, immediately, and 2 months after intervention in three groups: face-to-face intervention, virtual intervention, and control.

A controlled clinical trial with parallel groups, without blinding, randomized by simple randomization method, on 150 postmenopausal women.

This unblinded study will be conducted in selected health centers in Tehran with the participation of 150 menopausal women. After obtaining informed consent, participants will be randomly divided into three groups. The educational content will be approved for scientific validity by 5 members of the faculty of the School of Nursing and Midwifery. After the intervention, questionnaires will be provided to the participants three times before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and two months after the intervention.

Inclusion criteria: Iranian women aged 45 to 60 years, 1 to 10 years after menopause, married and living with a spouse, at least literate, access to a mobile phone, no use of hormonal drugs in the last 3 months, spouse's health. Exclusion criteria: Mental health-threatening events, chronic debilitating diseases

The in-person intervention consists of 6 2-hour sessions of self-care education in the form of lectures, questions and answers, and group discussions. In the virtual intervention, menopausal women participate in social media groups and educational content is presented in the form of micro-learning over 6 weeks and online group discussions are conducted. The control group receives virtual education individually but does not join any social groups and does not interact with anyone.

Self-esteem, happiness, and quality of sex life

The sampling method of the present study is as follows: first, two health centers will be selected from among the comprehensive health centers affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences based on the high number of menopausal patients. Then, using the simple random sampling method, samples will be selected from among the people who meet the conditions for entering the study in each center. In this method, first, the letters A, B, and C are written on 50 sheets of paper (a total of 150 sheets) and placed in sealed envelopes. We place these envelopes in a box and ask each participant to take one envelope and not put that envelope back in the box. Finally, in order to determine the in-person intervention group, virtual intervention, and control group, a lottery will be held between the letters A, B, and C.