1
|
Walser SA, Costigan H, Stuckey HL, Berg A, Stephens MB. The Opaque Language of Sexuality: Medical Students' and Providers' Beliefs About Virginity. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2023; 52:2619-2638. [PMID: 37039944 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02578-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Although virginity is not a medical term and is instead socially constructed, it remains unknown what medical providers believe about the biological basis of virginity. This study explored providers' and medical students' beliefs about virginity and the potential impact of such beliefs on healthcare. This was a concurrent mixed-method survey study of 124 medical students and 216 healthcare providers (Registered Nurse, Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner, and Doctor of Medicine) at Penn State Health and The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Participants rated their level of agreement with common misconceptions about virginity on a six-point Likert scale. Open-ended questions gave respondents the opportunity to define virginity and to describe terms like virgin and virginal in the context of sexual experience and the medical lexicon. We identified common themes in the qualitative data using thematic analysis. Frequencies of misconceptions and statistically significant demographic associations were identified in the quantitative data. Definitions of virginity were varied and vague, most with negative connotations. A majority of respondents said that virginity has no biological basis. Many participants identified downsides to use of terms like virgin, virginity, and virginal in medicine. The most prevalent misconceptions about virginity were related to the hymen. Seventeen percent of students and 26% of providers at least somewhat agreed that it was possible to determine whether a person has engaged in vaginal intercourse through a gynecological exam. Misconceptions about virginity persist in medicine and bias, even if unintended, may impact the quality-of-care people with vaginas receive. Language around sexual health should be specific, inclusive, clinically relevant, and free from judgment. Medical education must continue to work to eliminate the concept of a biological basis to virginity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Walser
- The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, University Park Regional Campus, 1850 East Park Ave., State College, PA, 16801, USA.
| | - Heather Costigan
- Department of Humanities and Public Health Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Heather L Stuckey
- Department of Humanities and Public Health Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Arthur Berg
- Department of Public Health Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Mark B Stephens
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, University Park Regional Campus, State College, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lee MC, Nahorski MS, Hockley JRF, Lu VB, Ison G, Pattison LA, Callejo G, Stouffer K, Fletcher E, Brown C, Drissi I, Wheeler D, Ernfors P, Menon D, Reimann F, Smith ESJ, Woods CG. Human Labor Pain Is Influenced by the Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel K V6.4 Subunit. Cell Rep 2021; 32:107941. [PMID: 32697988 PMCID: PMC7383234 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
By studying healthy women who do not request analgesia during their first delivery, we investigate genetic effects on labor pain. Such women have normal sensory and psychometric test results, except for significantly higher cuff pressure pain. We find an excess of heterozygotes carrying the rare allele of SNP rs140124801 in KCNG4. The rare variant KV6.4-Met419 has a dominant-negative effect and cannot modulate the voltage dependence of KV2.1 inactivation because it fails to traffic to the plasma membrane. In vivo, Kcng4 (KV6.4) expression occurs in 40% of retrograde-labeled mouse uterine sensory neurons, all of which express KV2.1, and over 90% express the nociceptor genes Trpv1 and Scn10a. In neurons overexpressing KV6.4-Met419, the voltage dependence of inactivation for KV2.1 is more depolarized compared with neurons overexpressing KV6.4. Finally, KV6.4-Met419-overexpressing neurons have a higher action potential threshold. We conclude that KV6.4 can influence human labor pain by modulating the excitability of uterine nociceptors. KCNG4 variant highly prevalent in women requiring no analgesia in childbirth KCNG4 variant encodes KV6.4Met-419; KV6.4 is a silent subunit modifying KV activity KV6.4Met-419 is retained in the cytoplasm and acts in a dominant-negative manner KV6.4Met-419 overexpression results in hypoexcitable sensory neurons
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael C Lee
- University Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
| | - Michael S Nahorski
- Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Wellcome Trust MRC Building, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - James R F Hockley
- Department of Pharmacology, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK
| | - Van B Lu
- Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Gillian Ison
- University Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Luke A Pattison
- Department of Pharmacology, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK
| | - Gerard Callejo
- Department of Pharmacology, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK
| | - Kaitlin Stouffer
- Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Wellcome Trust MRC Building, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Emily Fletcher
- Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Wellcome Trust MRC Building, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Christopher Brown
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK
| | - Ichrak Drissi
- University Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Daniel Wheeler
- University Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Patrik Ernfors
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - David Menon
- University Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Frank Reimann
- Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
| | | | - C Geoffrey Woods
- Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Wellcome Trust MRC Building, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
| |
Collapse
|