Abstract
Despite the high prevalence of sexual inactivity, decreased sexual desire, and poor sexual satisfaction documented among HIV-infected individuals, women’s experiences of sexuality following HIV-infection and their reasons for these sexual changes remain little examined. Further, the potential effects of the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) medications on their sexuality have not been explored among women living with HIV/AIDS. To examine these issues, focused interviews were conducted with two samples of women living with HIV/AIDS: one before the advent of HAART and a second matched sample interviewed after HAART became widely available. Women in both the pre-HAART and HAART eras frequently discussed decreased sexual activity, a loss of sexual interest, and a diminished sense of sexual attractiveness following their HIV infection. In addition, they reported a number of reasons for why they had discontinued sexual activity or were no longer interested in sex, including anxiety about HIV transmission, a loss of freedom and spontaneity during sex, fears of emotional hurt, not wanting the hassle of sexual relationships, a loss of sexual interest, and a diminished sense of sexual attractiveness. However, the types of changes in their sexuality women described, nor the reasons offered for these changes, did not differ between women in the pre-HAART and HAART eras. The findings suggest that therapeutic intervention may be needed by some HIV-infected women to overcome difficulties in resuming healthy sexual relationships following their HIV diagnosis and offer insights into the potential content of such intervention efforts.
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Notes
Because of the unstructured nature of the interviews, this prevalence represents a conservative estimate based on those who spontaneously discussed this issue within the larger context of their conversations about their psychosocial adaptation to their illness, and should not be construed as a reliable estimate of the true prevalence of these changes in the population of HIV-infected women.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants R01-MH50414 and MH61148 to Karolynn Siegel (PI).
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Siegel, K., Schrimshaw, E.W. & Lekas, HM. Diminished Sexual Activity, Interest, and Feelings of Attractiveness Among HIV-Infected Women in Two Eras of the AIDS Epidemic. Arch Sex Behav 35, 437–449 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9043-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9043-5