Sexual satisfaction and its relation to marital happiness in Iranians

Background: Marital satisfaction is affected by many factors. Satisfaction with one's sexual life tends to be a pivotal factor in marital satisfaction. In Iran, Socio-cultural and political limitations are obstacles for sexuality-related studies, therefore, insufficient information is available in the area. Unique in its own, in this paper we report how sexual relationships relate to marital satisfaction among Iranians. Methods: This descriptive-correlation study was conducted in 2007 in Tehran, continuous sampling was used to recruit 292 married men, and women aged 19-58 yr from selected hospitals in Tehran while visiting their hospitalized relatives. Some-times the participants were couple too. Three questionnaires were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using de-scriptive and inferential statistics (x2 ، Fisher and Anova) with SPSS. Results: Marital satisfaction significantly relates to sexual satisfaction (P = 0/00). There was also a significant relation be-tween sexual satisfaction and the following variables: age difference of couples (P = 0.04), length of marital life (P = 0.05), and a drug abused participant (P = 0.007). Of these variables, only the age difference of couples significantly relates to mari-tal satisfaction (0.00). Conclusion: Findings suggest that sexual satisfaction plays a seminal role in marital satisfaction of Iranians. Therefore, we need to develop culturally appropriate practical strategies to improve Iranian couples ’ awareness in sexuality issues as well as training them in communication skills through their sexual encounters