TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sakr, Hend Reda
AU  - Ahmed, Yahia Ali
AU  - Kamel, Reham Mohamed
AU  - Abdelhady, Reem Hamdy
AU  - Elkalla, Reham Alaa
AU  - Georgui, Mina Atef
AU  - Abd El-khalek, Wael Osama
AU  - El Ebrashy, Mariam Hossam
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/4/21
TI  - Clitoral Therapy Device for Alleviating Sexual Dysfunction After Female Genital Mutilation: Randomized Controlled Trial
JO  - JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol
SP  - e43403
VL  - 10
KW  - female genital mutilation
KW  - FGM
KW  - clitoral therapy device
KW  - CTD
KW  - Eros device
KW  - sex therapy
KW  - Female Sexual Function Index
KW  - FSFI
KW  - Middle East
KW  - psychological
KW  - sexual
KW  - women
KW  - sexual dysfunction
AB  - Background: Female genital mutilation is considered a crime but is still practiced today in Africa and the Middle East, despite all the laws that make this procedure illegal due to the long-term physical and psychological harm it causes to women. Millions of girls and women living today have undergone genital mutilation, which involves removing the external female genitalia either partially or totally, based on the belief that it restricts feminine sexuality, thereby “saving” a girl for marriage. For girls and women, the surgery offers no health advantages. Girls’ right to control critical decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health is violated because genital mutilation is frequently done against their will and frequently without their consent, leading to lifelong psychic trauma in addition to sexual dysfunction and lack of satisfaction due to distortion of the genitalia that threatens marital stability. Objective: To determine the effect of a clitoral therapy device on improving sexual domains in women suffering from sexual dysfunction after female genital mutilation. Methods: This study examined 80 married women aged from 20 to 45 years who were referred from the gynecology outpatient clinic of the Faculty of Medicine, Suez University, for sexual dysfunction resulting from female genital mutilation. The women were divided into 2 equal groups: the study group received a clitoral therapy device and traditional psychosexual education and were closely followed for 3 months, while the control group received only traditional psychosexual education for 3 months. The Arabic version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire was used to assess sexual outcomes pre- and posttreatment in the 2 groups. Results: Our findings revealed a significant increase in the 6 domains of the FSFI pretreatment in both groups compared to posttreatment (P>.001), except the orgasm domain in the control group, which showed only a nonsignificant increase (P=.16). Conclusions: Clitoral therapy devices may be an effective, safe, noninvasive rehabilitation method for sexual dysfunction following female genital mutilation. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05039775; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05039775 
SN  - 2369-2529
UR  - https://rehab.jmir.org/2023/1/e43403
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/43403
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083562
DO  - 10.2196/43403
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/43403
ER  -