_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1906 https://www.id-press.eu/mjms/index ID Design Press, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2018 Oct 25; 6(10):1906-1911. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2018.383 eISSN: 1857-9655 Public Health Sexual Desire and Related Factors in Middle-Aged and Elderly Married Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran Mahbubeh Tabatabaeichehr 1 , Hamed Mortazavi 2 , Mahdi Hares Abadi 3 , Leili Moayed 4* 1 Geriatric Care Research Center, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; 2 Geriatric Care Research Center, Department of Geriatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; 3 Geriatric Care Research Center, Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; 4 Student Research Committee, Gerontological Care Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran Citation: Tabatabaeichehr M, Mortazavi H, Hares Abadi M, Moayed L. Sexual Desire and Related Factors in Middle-Aged and Elderly Married Women: A Cross- Sectional Study in Iran. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2018 Oct 25; 6(10):1906-1911. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2018.383 Keywords: Sexual Behavior; Sexual desire; Spouses; Women; Aged *Correspondence: Leili Moayed. Student Research Committee, Gerontological Care Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran. E-mail: Leili70.moayed@gmail.com Received: 29-Aug-2018; Revised: 09-Sep-2018; Accepted: 10-Sep-2018; Online first: 10-Oct-2018 Copyright: © 2018 Mahbubeh Tabatabaeichehr, Hamed Mortazavi, Mahdi Hares Abadi, Leili Moayed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Funding: This research did not receive any financial support Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Abstract BACKGROUND: The sexual desire in the middle-aged and senior women is one of the factors affecting their quality of life and psychological well-being. AIM: The present study was aimed to assess the sexual desire and related factors among married women aged 50-70 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study, 210 married menopausal women aged 50-70 years were selected by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using a demographic profile questionnaire and Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI), and analysed by SPSS version 22 software using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. RESULTS: The mean age of women was 59.40 ± 5.93 years, and the mean sexual desire score was 22.66 ± 17.78 (out of 112). There was a significant relationship between sexual desire score and age, educational level, occupation of women and spouses, age of menopause, marital history, number of pregnancies and children, individual health and pain level (P < 0.001). The sexual desire score had a significant association with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol, chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems, chronic ulcers, bladder and intestinal problems, joint and bone disorders, taking cardiac medications, antihypertensive, anticoagulant, insulin, cholesterol-lowering drugs (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The low sexual desire score and its reduction with age and the presence of various diseases and factors affecting sexual desire highlight the importance of diagnostic screening, family related educational planning and the role of health care providers in the health status of the older adults. Introduction Elderly is described as one of the most important periods of life that has been neglected. The changes in the physical appearance and the roles of older adults often led the community to forget that the older adults are not an isolated generation [1]. Health has a variety of dimensions, one of which is sexual health [2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual health as "a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity", but it is a relatively good sexual state requiring a positive approach to sexuality and sexual relationships and a pleasant experience without fear, shame and coercion [3]. Neglecting elderly people and their needs, such as sexuality, affects their quality of life and the feeling of being "good" [2] [4]. Sexual desire has been considered as one of the fundamental human needs, although this need goes beyond the biological realm and also has physiological, social and spiritual dimensions [2] [3]. The sexual desire can promote the growth of individual personality and relationship, and contribute to overall life stability, as well as provide opportunities