Sexuality and reproduction in women with spinal cord injury

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is debilitating and results in different social representations for the women affected in terms of their sexuality and reproduction. Objective: Describe the experience of women with SCI regarding sexuality and reproduction under these conditions. Methods: Participants were 11 women with SCI who were submitted to a semi-structured interview. The content of the interviews was inputted into ALCESTE software, a computerized technique used for text analysis. Results: The dendrogram obtained shows two clusters and five subcategories. Cluster I contains issues related to living with SCI and consists of four classes: everyday life, sexuality and reproduction, difficulties, and coping. The so-called class of perceptions is in cluster II, which addresses subjective aspects. The classes in cluster I revealed symbolism associated with sexual relations, reproduction, affective relationships before and after SCI and relationships with the body. The results indicate that sexuality among women with SCI is marked by a mixture of feelings. While they are insecure about expressing themselves sexually, they also report fear of abandonment and loneliness, possibly due to conflicts about accepting their new image, which in most cases was characterized by low self-esteem. Conclusion: The representations of the sexuality and reproduction of the women studied here are vital in the process of accepting and coping with SCI, as well as recovering their social, affective and sexual relationships.

Sexual Knowledge and Experience of Women with Spinal Cord Injury in the Community Level in Bangladesh

“…In one study, in which support of partner is necessary for happiness, fulfillment, and connectedness with other; This research also claimed that desire discrepancy was defined as the difference in desire between sexual partners, low discrepancy was positively related to both relationship and sexual satisfaction [15]. In another research discovered that women with SCI fear abandonment by their husband or the possibility of never having another relationship; however, these fears soon fade by their husband's acceptance of disability [10].…”

“…This study discovered the present happiness of sexual life mean score below half of the normal range. Another research showed that subjects labelled their sex lives as worse after SCI, largely due to difficulties in their relationship with their partner, medical problems and the lack of privacy [10]. In contrast another study revealed that sexual function and SCI shows that sexual pleasure are possible for women having spinal cord injury [9].…”

“…Courtois et al [9] report that education about these issues to help adapt to their new lives and to maintain a positive attitude toward sexual Community Level in Bangladesh health and motherhood. Sexuality is vital in the process of accepting and coping with SCI and highlighted the importance of reproduction for women in general, before and after SCI, were also prominent [10]. Aikman et al [11] reported that lack of sexual rehabilitation services and consensus around clinician roles, and societal stigmas related to disability and sexuality obstruct treatment.…”

Impact of Spinal Cord Injury on Women’s Sexuality

“…Ainda são escassas as pesquisas sobre a sexualidade de mulheres acometidas por LM, porém, em decorrência do impacto da LM na vida das mulheres, o conhecimento sobre aspectos específicos da sexualidade feminina após a lesão poderá contribuir para intervenções que visem à melhoria do bem-estar biopsicossocial deste grupo. Tendo em vista que existem poucos dados no Brasil (Sodré;Faro, 2008;Matão, 2017), este estudo tem por objetivo avaliar o impacto da lesão medular na sexualidade de mulheres.…”