The relationship between anxiety, depression and religious coping strategies and erectile dysfunction in Iranian patients with spinal cord injury

Factors affecting sexual health in individuals with spinal cord injury: A systematic scoping review

PURPOSE

This study aims to review the literature to explore some factors affecting sexual and partnership adjustment in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

METHODS

This study was based on the methodological framework of scoping reviews, including 3 methodological steps: (1) identifying relevant studies (searching for related studies); (2) selecting related studies; (3) collecting key findings, summarizing, and reporting the results. The electronic databases were searched including Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Studies were included if they reported data about the related factors of sexual and partnership adjustment in individuals with SCI. No limitations were considered in terms of time or methodology of the search.

RESULTS

After the full-text screening, 52 studies were included from the year of 1978 - 2019 with various methodologies. The present review demonstrated that proper sexual health among individuals with SCI is related to several factors including the anatomical factor, level of the injury, completeness of the injury, psycho-social factor, socio-economic status, and type of relationship.

CONCLUSION

With consideration of factors affecting sexual and partnership adjustment in individuals with SCI, a better estimation of sexual health can be achieved in clinical to improve the relationship and quality of life.

Looking Beyond the Chair: Psycho-Perceptual Predictors of Sexual Distress and Sexual Satisfaction in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Despite a large body of biomedical research, little is known about the psychological and perceptual predictors of sexual satisfaction (SS) and sexual distress (SD) post spinal cord injury (SCI). Guided by a bio-psycho-perceptual framework, this cross-sectional research aimed at assessing SS and SD in a large SCI sample using validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). Significant correlates and predictors of SS and SD were also identified. Ninety-one men and women with SCI completed PROMs of SS and SD, as well as psychological (mood, sexual and body esteem) and perceptual (interoceptive awareness, trait mindfulness, sexual mindfulness) factors. Neurological profiles were also assessed, along with experience of orgasm. Correlates of SS and SD were first identified using Pearson's correlations, then multiple hierarchical regression models were computed to isolate predictors. Orgasm experience and psychological factors emerged as moderate correlates of both SS and SD, while neurological factors did not. Interoceptive awareness and trait mindfulness showed weak associations with SD and none with SS. Among the tested predictors, experience of orgasm emerged as the strongest for SS (β = -.29, p < .01), followed by mood, which predicted SS and SD. Sexual and body esteem was predictive of SD only. In sexually active participants, sexual mindfulness predicted both SS (β = 0.55, p < .001) and SD (β = -0.56, p < .001) above and beyond all other variables. This study reveals unique aspects of SS and SD postinjury and supports further consideration of psychological and perceptual dimensions of SCI sexuality in rehabilitation research.

Talking about post-injury sexual functioning: The views of people with spinal cord injuries-A qualitative interview study

AIM

This study aimed to explore perceptions of people with spinal cord injuries regarding the information they received during their rehabilitation programme on post-injury sexual functioning.

BACKGROUND

Spinal cord injury is a traumatic, life-altering event that is associated with loss of motor and sensory function and sexual impairment. Existing evidence suggests that sexual issues are poorly handled during the rehabilitation phase of the patient's journey.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative design was utilized in this study.

METHODS

Twenty-nine people with spinal cord injury participated in qualitative in-depth interviews between November 2017 and April 2018, and data were analysed using the Burnard (1991, https://doi.org/10.1016/0260-6917(91)90009-y) thematic analysis framework.

RESULTS

Some participants indicated they were sexually inactive prior to their spinal cord injury. They testified that they had not received information on post-injury sexual functioning. Many participants who received post-injury information on sexual functioning reported dissatisfaction with the content and timing of this information.

CONCLUSION

Personal conversations between spinal cord injured patients and dedicated members of the interdisciplinary health team can enhance the quality of rehabilitation care and patients' satisfaction with rehabilitation care. Nurses are central clinicians in the rehabilitation programme of spinal cord injured patients and should engage in individually designed conversations about post-injury sexual functioning.

Association between traumatic spinal cord injury and affective and other psychiatric disorders-A nationwide cohort study and effects of rehabilitation therapies

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the association between traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) and the risk of affective and other psychiatric disorders, and the role of the rehabilitation therapies.

METHODS

In this population-based, retrospective cohort study, we used Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to analyze the patients who were newly diagnosed with TSCI between 2000 and 2015 were included, with a 1:3 ratio by age, sex, and index year matched in the non-TSCI comparison group, for the risk of affective and other psychiatric disorders.

RESULTS

In total, 5375 out of 16,151 patients with TSCI developed psychiatric disorders, and 1467 out of 48,543 patients in the non-TSCI group developed psychiatric disorders (2930.88 vs 2823.29 per 100,000 persons/year). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the TSCI cohort had a significantly higher risk of psychiatric disorders (log-rank, p < 0.001). Fine and Gray's survival analysis revealed that the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.977 (95% CI: 1.914-2.042, p < 0.001). Rehabilitation therapies, including physical and occupational therapies, within 90 days after the injury, was associated with a lowered risk of psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, in the TSCI cohort (adjusted HR = 0.702 [95% CI: 0.661-0.746, p < 0.001]). In the subgroups with low, medium, and high intensity, rehabilitation therapies were associated with a lowered risk of psychiatric disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

TSCI was associated with the risk of affective and other psychiatric disorders, and rehabilitation therapies were associated with a lowered risk of these in the TSCI cohort.