Sexuality and Quality of Life in Eastern Taiwan People With Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: A proper sexual functioning and a satisfying intimate relationship is one of the components for a high quality of life (QoL). However, sexuality among the chronically and/or those who suffer from mental illnesses are not a widely researched or discussed topic. The aim of the study is to explore the association among brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS), QoL, Taiwanese depression questionnaire (TDQ), sexual desire (SD) in people with schizophrenia (PwS).Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design with 277 psychiatric inpatients. A descriptive analysis, difference analysis and logistic regression model were presented to identify relevant variables that may affect the probability of good QoL. Finally, we used structure equation model to explore the association of BPRS, TDQ, SD and QoL. Results: The mean age of the sample was 43.82±8.43 years old. Quality of life has no significant difference in the obesity and gender of PwS, but male PwS had higher scores of SD than female PwS. For participants with smoking, early illness onset age, shorter illness duration there was a significant higher SD. The logistic regression analysis showed BPRS, depression and SD significantly affected the probability of QoL. By SEM, SD would be positivity correlated with mental status and that SD would indirectly influence QoL. Conclusions: Our results showed that the QoL and SD of the PwS are often associated with interaction between psychological and sociological factors. This study also supports the idea of a close relationship between SD, depression and BPRS. Besides, these factors may predict the probability of good life quality for the PwS.

Impacto das emoções no desempenho acadêmico e na qualidade de vida dos estudantes de Medicina

“…Ainda assim, é importante ressaltar as diferenças entre os sexos, pois homens por uma herança histórica/cultural e biológica, apresentam prazer físico, ou seja, possuem uma sexualidade sinestésica (tato, olfato, visão e audição), já as mulheres, atingem o prazer por meio das emoções (Silva et al, 2021;Souza Junior et al, 2021). E, pensando nisso, Chung et al (2021) constataram que mulheres apresentam maiores taxas de disfunção sexual, decorrente da incapacidade do parceiro durante as relações e/ou ao próprio desconhecimento do corpo.…”