Sexual Function and Disability in the Neurorehabilitation Setting: An Urgent Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach

Sexual function in patients with neurological disabilities is often disregarded by healthcare professionals, though it is a topic of great importance to patients and to those with whom they share significant relationships. Indeed, too often healthcare professionals believe that sexual function is not as important as the disease that brought the patient to the rehabilitation team. Neurological disorders frequently alter sexual response by changing the process of sexual stimulation and precluding arousal, decreasing or increasing desire, and curtailing genital engorgement. In these patients, sexual functioning might also be affected by the psychological and behavioral changes associated with neurological disease. Thus, in the neurorehabilitation setting, it is important to question patients about their sexual functioning so that any associated dysfunction can be addressed. A multidisciplinary approach, including psychological counseling, nursing, and medical investigation, is therefore needed to overcome this important and often neglected concern.