French survey on the crossed needs on sexual health for chronic inflammatory rheumatism patients and healthcare professionals

Views of Mexican outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis on sexual and reproductive health: A cross-sectional study

“…We found that a significant number of the patients surveyed reported that they "Never/ Rarely" talk about SRH with their rheumatologists; our approach to SRH was holistic, not limited to counseling for specific concerns, and targeted female and male patients of varying ages and with a wide range of disease durations. Similar percentages have been described for European patients with RA [14,20,68]. More recently, Twisttman et al [69] found that up to 92% of 329 Danes RA patients, had never discussed sexual issues with a health care professional during the last 5 years.…”

“…These results differed from those found in Danes RA patients were half of them stated that they did not want health care professionals to address sexual themes (occasionally) [69], and in UK RA patients with long-standing disease, where nurses were the patient´s preferred confidants to talk about sexual issues, followed by physicians [20]. In Swedish patients, the rheumatologist was the most frequent healthcare professional selected with whom to address sexual concerns, while French patients selected psychologists [68]. Our patients preferred an SRH expert and a trustful physician even more frequently than a rheumatologist [14].…”

“…In addition, men with RA reported a large impact on sexuality compared to women [21]. In a recent survey [68], French women with RA were reported to be more comfortable addressing sexual health with nurses and psychologists, while male patients selected rheumatologists or GPs; nurses and psychologists may represent trustful healthcare providers from the female perspective suggesting that women's sexual concerns (extended to female patients with RA concerns) might be more psycho-affective than biologically driven [21] and should be addressed in an intimate environment.…”

Sexual disinterest among spondyloarthritis patients. Comparison between psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis using a sexuality-specific question from the ASAS Health Index

“…Sexuality is an integral part of the individual. Despite the data that we have previously presented, alterations in sexuality constitute an issue that is hardly addressed in usual doctor-patient interaction, and patients with rheumatic diseases do not escape this consideration (7,8). Our results support the use of ASAS HI as an adequate screening tool to detect sexuality alterations in SpA patients, and therefore, as an aid for redirecting therapeutic options to patients' needs.…”

Patient educational needs and challenges in psoriatic arthritis

“…Also, patients with shorter duration of disease were found to be more likely to be interested in one-to-one sessions with rheumatology professionals, listening to talks of experienced patients and online support services. Other studies have shown that there is value in promoting more educational sessions on sexual health [29], and the supportive role that spouses and other relatives can play [30,31].…”