Comparing the efficacy of autogenic training and mindfulness-based stress reduction training on sexual performance in patients with type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is a common chronic disease that causes many physical and mental injuries. Sexual dysfunction is one of the common consequences of diabetes in women, which has many negative consequences for the patient. On the other hand, stress can be an effective factor in aggravating sexual disorders. Regarding the effectiveness of interventions based on stress management such as autogenic training and stress reduction training based on mindfulness on the sexual performance of type 2 diabetic patients, there is a research gap in comparing the effectiveness of these two training methods.

The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of autogenic training and mindfulness-based stress reduction training on sexual performance in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The current research design was a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all women with type 2 diabetes referred to Kasra Hospital in Tehran in 1400, 45 of them were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (15 people in each group). The Female Sexual Function Index (Tyler et al., 1994) was used to collect data. For the first experimental group, 10 autogenic training sessions (MirzamohammadAlaeini et al., 2021) and for the second experimental group, 8 sessions of mindfulness-based stress reduction training (Kabat-Zinn, 2003) were implemented, While the control group did not receive any intervention. Analysis of covariance and SPSS24 software were used for data analysis.

Based on the findings, the effect of the educational interventions on the post-test scores of the sexual performance of the members of both experimental groups was significant, so that after the intervention, the scores of the sexual performance increased significantly (P<0.05). The results of Bonferroni's post hoc test also showed that the post-test scores of sexual performance in the experimental groups have increased significantly compared to the control group. Also, mindfulness-based stress reduction training has been more effective compared to autogenic training (P<0.05).

According to the results obtained in the present study, which confirm the effectiveness of stress reduction training methods based on mindfulness and autogenic training, in reducing the stress level of diabetic women, it is suggested that psychologists and psychiatrists use the mentioned training methods to improve the sexual performance of women with diabetes.