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Estrogen administration temporarily reduces the symptoms of vaginal dryness, but long-term exposure to this drug is likely to be associated with serious complications. Considering the promising results of previous studies concerning the effect of vitamin D on vaginal dryness, the proposed study will investigate the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on the sexual function of postmenopausal women.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In a randomized, controlled clinical trial, 105 postmenopausal women will be randomly assigned to three groups receiving vitamin D vaginal suppository, placebo vaginal suppository, or control (no intervention). Vitamin D vaginal suppositories contain 1000\u2009units of vitamin D3. The timing of the use of vitamin D vaginal suppositories and placebo suppositories will be every night in the first 2 weeks, and every other night in the following 6 weeks (8 weeks in total). The primary outcome will be the sexual function of participants which will be assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) before and immediately after the intervention, and at 1 and 2 months after the end of the intervention. The side effects of these suppositories will be examined as a secondary consequence of the study. Data will be analyzed using SPSS software version 25. In the case of normal distribution of data, the mean score of sexual function will be compared between the groups using a repeated measurements ANOVA. If statistical analysis leads to significant results, the post-hoc test will be used to determine the differences between the groups. Comparison of demographic and fertility characteristics of the women will be carried out using statistical tests such as chi-squares and <jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic>-tests. A significance level of <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u2009.05 will be used for statistical analyses.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>If vitamin D vaginal suppositories improve sexual function among premenopausal women with long-term effects and minimum side effects, the suppositories will be considered a safe complementary and alternative choice for alleviating sexual dysfunction among this group.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Trial registration<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p><jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.irct.ir\/trial\/32457\">IRCT20180704040346N1<\/jats:ext-link> at 2018-10-13 prospectively registered.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-020-00899-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,18]],"date-time":"2020-02-18T13:03:03Z","timestamp":1582030983000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Investigating the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on sexual function among postmenopausal women: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Zinat","family":"Sarebani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5327-2411","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zainab","family":"Alimoradi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ehsan","family":"Aali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Monirsadat","family":"Mirzadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Venus","family":"Chegini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mohammadreza","family":"Abbaspour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark D.","family":"Griffiths","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,18]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"899_CR1","first-page":"189","volume":"13","author":"M Shohani","year":"2009","unstructured":"Shohani M, Rasouli F, HajiAmiry P, HasanpoorDehkordi A, Mahmoudi M. 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Also the proposal was approved with decree code: IR.QUMS.REC.1397.117 in the Ethics Committee affiliated with Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. Permissions to enter health and medical centers were obtained from authorities of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. Next, the researcher will introduce herself to the participants. After expressing objectives, assuring the participants about confidentiality of their data and possibility of withdrawing from the study, a written informed consent form will be signed by those participants who were willing to participate in this research.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"27"}}