The effect of postmenopausal therapeutic interventions on sexual function: a meta-analysis study

Aim: The purpose of this study is to identify how therapeutic interventions after menopause affect sexual function. Methods: For this study, research was conducted by screening studies in PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and YOK Thesis Center databases from May to July 2024. After reviewing the studies, five studies were included in the meta-analysis. The quality assessment of the studies was conducted using a quality assessment tool prepared by The Joanna Briggs Institute, according to Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental design studies. CMA Version 2 was used for data synthesis. The data were synthesized using meta-analysis and narrative synthesis methods. Results: According to the results of the meta-analysis, therapeutic interventions applied during the postmenopausal period were found to not be effective on sexual function (SMD: 1.056, 95% CI:-0.171 to 2.282; Z=1.686, p=0.092, I2=97.827%). These findings indicate that, when all intervention types are evaluated together, there is no statistically significant overall improvement in postmenopausal sexual function and that the results are highly heterogeneous across studies. However, subgroup analyses revealed that pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) demonstrated a strong and statistically significant positive effect on sexual function in women with sexual dysfunction (p < 0.000), suggesting that the effectiveness of interventions varies according to intervention type. From a clinical perspective, this finding indicates that PFMT may represent a practical and targeted non-pharmacological option for improving sexual function in postmenopausal women, despite the absence of a significant overall pooled effect. Conclusion: While pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) appears to be a promising intervention for improving postmenopausal sexual dysfunction, this finding is based on limited evidence and should be interpreted with caution. Given the variability in intervention types and study quality, further high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of PFMT and other therapeutic approaches, as well as their potential combinations, in order to establish more definitive conclusions.