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Published on: April 4, 2012
Physical, psycho-emotional, and social challenges in having sexual intercourse by people with spinal cord injury
Mohammad Kamali1, Zoleikha Arabkari2
1Department of Rehabilitation Management, Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Background:
Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes major changes in physical, psychological, and social dimensions, and simultaneously leads to changes in sexual performance and decreases the quality of sex life of people with SCI. The present research aims to recognize the physical, psycho-emotional, and social challenges in having sexual intercourse by people with SCI.
Materials And Methods:
The current qualitative study was conducted using the conventional content analysis method. The 25 participants were selected from June 2022 to May 2024 in Tehran, by purposeful and snowball sampling methods with maximum diversity from daily care centers, as well as referrals from friends, and were assessed through in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using the method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman.
Results:
The analysis of participants' interviews culminated in identifying four categories of psycho-emotional challenges, physical challenges against genital health, inaccessibility to reliable sexual knowledge, social inhibitors, and thirteen subcategories.
Conclusions:
Precise and timely recognition of physical, psycho-emotional, sexual, and social challenges culminates in developing comprehensive educational programs and protocols with the cooperation of the government and health policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and the active engagement of people with SCI. Thereby, the quality of the sex life of people with SCI will be improved, the family's attitude toward the sexual performance of these individuals will vary, and mutual sexual intimacy and pleasure will be created in sexual and marital relationships.
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