title: Measuring Iranian women's sexual behaviors: Expert opinion.
abstract: The cultural compatibility of sexually related instruments is problematic because the contexts from which the concepts and meanings were extracted may be significantly different from related contexts in a different society. This paper describes the instruments that have been used to assess sexual behaviors, primarily in Western contexts. Then, based on the instruments' working definition of 'sexual behavior' and their theoretical frameworks, we will (1) discuss the applicability or cultural compatibility of existing instruments targeting women's sexual behaviors within an Iranian context, and (2) suggest criteria for sexually related tools applicable in Iranian settings. Iranian women's sexual scripts may compromise the existing instruments' compatibility. Suggested criteria are as follows: understanding, language of sexuality, ethics and morality. Therefore, developing a culturally comprehensive measure that can adequately examine Iranian women's sexual behaviors is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ghorashi
authors.affiliation: Brain and Spinal Injury Repair Research Centre (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Effat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merghati-Khoei
authors.affiliation: Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yousefy
keywords: Iranian women; measure; sexual behavior