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Problems related to sexuality are relevant but not addressed in rheumatology practice: results from a cross-sectional survey

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Abstract

Sexual issues have a high prevalence in people with rheumatic diseases, but they are not commonly discussed in clinical practice, so we aim to determine the relevance and frequency of addressing problems related to sexuality in Rheumatology clinical practice in Mexico. We obtained data from an electronic survey applied to Mexican physicians involved in Rheumatology practice. The questionnaire was adapted from a previous study. The responses were analyzed and presented with descriptive statistics. We received 75 responses, 52% were from women, with an average age of 35.5 years. Sixty-two (82.6%) participants considered problems related to sexuality as quite relevant to Rheumatology practice, but a lower proportion (10, 13.3%) approach them to the same extent. The main barriers to the management of sexual issues that we recognized were the patient’s embarrassment, patient´s age, and time. Most of our participants (62.7%) considered the rheumatologist as responsible for initiating the dialogue about sexual issues. Mexican rheumatologists consider sexual issues as relevant. Further training in sexuality is warranted for health care professionals attending people with rheumatic diseases.

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Additional data will be shared if needed by the corresponding author by e-mail.

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Funding

The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not for profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Universitario, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Gonzalitos No. 235 Nte., Col. Mitras Centro, C.P. 64460, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

    Jesús Eduardo Compeán-Villegas, Griselda Serna-Peña, Grisel Guadalupe Sánchez-Mendieta, Jesus Alberto Cardenas-de la Garza & Dionicio Ángel Galarza-Delgado

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  1. Jesús Eduardo Compeán-Villegas
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  2. Griselda Serna-Peña
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  3. Grisel Guadalupe Sánchez-Mendieta
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  4. Jesus Alberto Cardenas-de la Garza
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  5. Dionicio Ángel Galarza-Delgado
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Contributions

All the authors substantially contributed to the design of the work, as well as to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data. All authors critically revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dionicio Ángel Galarza-Delgado.

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Conflict of interest

None declared.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the “Dr. José Eleuterio González” University Hospital, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, approval number RE20-00013.

Patient and public involvement statement

Patients or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of our research.

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Compeán-Villegas, J.E., Serna-Peña, G., Sánchez-Mendieta, G.G. et al. Problems related to sexuality are relevant but not addressed in rheumatology practice: results from a cross-sectional survey. Rheumatol Int 42, 847–851 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-022-05095-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-022-05095-3

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