Sexual Health Problems and Associated Help-Seeking Behavior of People With Physical Disabilities and Chronic Diseases

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate help-seeking behavior in relation to sexual problems among people with a disease or an impairment, as well as determining factors that promote people to seek professional sexological help. A total of 341 respondents (224 men, 117 women) participated. Approximately 50% wanted professional help with finding a sexual partner and sexual adjustment problems. Further, approximately 40% wanted professional help for problems in their sexual relationship, practical sexual problems, and the inability to enjoy their sexuality. In total, two third considered contacting a health care professional of which 35% had indeed had contact with a health care professional. Only a third of those evaluated these contacts as positive. To identify factors associated with the respondent's participation in psychosexual therapy, we performed a logistic regression analyses with a participation in a psychosexual intervention as the dependent variable. Sexual dissatisfaction was the strongest predictor of participation in psychosexual therapy. Furthermore, people who indicated that they wanted professional help for their sexual problems and people who had already discussed sexuality issues with a health care professional were more likely to participate. Disease and demographic characteristics did not influence one's decision to participate.

Sexual Functioning in Occupational Therapy Education: A Survey of Programs

“…Individuals with disabilities are a vastly underserved subpopulation in the United States (WHO, 2016). The manifestation of this inequality includes unmet sexual health needs (Kedde et al, 2012). The current ACOTE standards require instruction on ADLs from a general perspective but do not specifically outline sexuality education (ACOTE, 2012).…”

“…In fact, AOTA endorses the belief that sexuality is a central characteristic and foundational factor for human QOL (MacRae, 2013). Despite this knowledge, occupational therapists continue to be reluctant to address sexuality with their disabled clients (Kedde, van de Wiel, Schultz, Vanwesenbeeck, & Bender 2012;Moors & Schechinger, 2014;Nosek & Simmons, 2007). Therapists have reported varying reasons for this inattention, including a lack of knowledge, decreased comfort, feelings of incompetency, perceived lack of treatment options, fear of offending the client, and time constraints (ASHA, 2016;Berman et al, 2003;Booth, Kendall, Fronek, Miller, & Geraghty, 2003;Kingsberg, 2004;McGrath & Lynch, 2014).…”

Detecting decreased sexual health with MDHAQ-S

“…We believe that a questionnaire indicating eventual sexual health difficulties can be useful in easing the conversation concerning sexual health without losing respect for the person's integrity. It is important to acknowledge that some patients with chronic diseases hesitate to bring up problems with sexual health with health care professionals since they do not believe that they can get any help from them [42]. Every health care professional must thus be aware of what types of sexual health problems their interventions can be of use for and in which cases they must refer the patient to another specialist.…”

Brief psychosexual therapy: reflections on the provision of a time-limited therapy service in a sexual health clinic

“…This is a highly unusual situation as studies consistently indicate a marked reluctance on the part of many health workers to discuss patients' sexual concerns (e.g. Kedde, van de Wiel, Schultz, Vanwesenbeeck & Bender, 2012;Lemieux, Kaiser, Pereira & Meadows, 2004;Stead, Fallowfield, Brown & Selby, 2001), and its benefits, in terms of quality and continuity of care, should not be underestimated.…”