The Relation Between COVID-19 Epidemic and Sexual and Reproductive Health of Men and Women: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Context: COVID-19 epidemic is a significant global concern. One of the most important aspects of health is sexual and reproductive health. COVID-19 would threaten sexual and reproductive health by risking the ability of service systems for providing relative health needs. A wide range of services and aspects of sexual and reproductive health has been affected by the global epidemic of COVID-19. The present study was conducted to determine the relation between COVID-19 epidemic and sexual and reproductive health of men and women to evaluate all the aspects of sexual and reproductive health and provide the best approach. Evidence Acquisition: To conduct the present narrative review study, databases including PubMed, Scopus, SID, MagIran, Embase, Web of Science, Medline, and Science Direct and also the scientific search engine of Google Scholar were searched using the keywords of COVID-19, reproductive health, sexual health, and fertility from November 2022 to January 2023. The articles were published from 2019 to 2022. The search for articles was conducted by two researchers, and the articles were extracted. No limitation was considered for the entry of the articles in the study based on their design. The inclusion criterion was the evaluation of the effect of COVID-19 on different sexual and reproductive aspects of men and women, and the exclusion criterion was the lack of access to the article’s full text. Results: Evaluation of 42 articles showed that COVID-19 had a significant effect on reproductive (family planning services, prenatal and post-partum care, safe abortion, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence, intention for pregnancy and having children, and maternal and fetal complications) and sexual (sexual and reproductive glands, sexual function, and sexual quality of life) health. Conclusions: COVID-19 could affect different aspects of reproductive and sexual health in men and women. Therefore, it is recommended that, considering the occurred changes, effective policies and Plans would be implemented to provide quality services.