Denial: implications of a pilot study on activity level related to sexual competence in burned adults

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the effect of disfigurement on sexual competence and the relationship between self-reported activity level and sexual competence in burn-disfigured adults. Because of a small sample size and methodological limitations, findings were intended to be informative for planning further research rather than definitive. Results showed a strong positive correlation between activity level and sexual competence. Additional findings showed surprisingly high activity levels reported by subjects who were greatly disfigured. It was speculated that denial may have affected the results of this study. Based on this, the clinical implications of denial were explored, and suggestions for future research were generated.