The effect of palm pollen extract on sexual disorders in postmenopausal women A three-blind randomized clinical trial

Background: The high prevalence of sexual problems among postmenopausal women needs more attention. Palm pollen extract seemed to help improve menopausal sexual dysfunction with estrogenic and antioxidant compounds. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the effect of palm pollen on sexual disorders in postmenopausal women. Methods In this three-blind clinical trial, 110 postmenopausal women from Rafsanjan comprehensive health service centers were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to two groups.The intervention group received 300 mg capsule of palm extract and the control group received placebo for 4 weeks. Sexual disorders were assessed with a 6-item FSFI questionnaire before the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and 4 weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21 and analysis of variance, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. Results The mean scores of sexual dysfunction before the intervention in the intervention and control groups were 15.36 ± 5.01 and 14.13 67 4.67, respectively (p = 0.684), at the end of the intervention 15.18 50 4.50 and 14.22 3 3.91 (p = 0.431) and 4 weeks after the intervention is 15.7 4 4.77 and 14.44 3 3.78 (p = 0.908). Conclusions According to the results, daily consumption of 300 mg of palm pollen extract does not significantly improve the sexual function of postmenopausal women. Due to the proof of phytoestrogenic and antioxidant effects of palm pollen in various studies, further studies with higher doses or increasing the duration of use are recommended. Trial registration: This three-blind clinical trial study was approved with the ethical code IR.RUMS.REC.1399.097 on 25/07/2020 and the clinical trial code IRCT20160308026971N10 on 06/12/2020.