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Addressing Sexuality as Standard Care in People with an Upper Limb Deficiency: Taboo or Necessary Topic?

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether professionals who work with people with an upper limb deficiency (ULD) received questions about sexuality from their patients and whether they addressed sexuality themselves, and to analyze their knowledge and comfort level, approach and attitudes towards sexuality. An online questionnaire, including questions on self-perceived sexological competence and the Knowledge, Comfort, Approach and Attitudes towards Sexuality Scale (KCAASS) was used to asses these aspects. One out of three professionals had received a question about sexuality from their patients. Nearly one out of five professionals had addressed sexuality themselves. Professionals who received a question about sexuality from patients or addressed this issue themselves had significantly higher scores on self-perceived knowledge about sexuality and on self-perceived conversation skills compared to professionals who did not. The scores on the KCAASS Knowledge and Comfort of professionals who received a question about sexuality or addressed the issue of sexuality were significantly higher than those of professionals who did not. Sexuality is thus only scantly discussed by professionals working with patients with an ULD. Professionals indicated they do not feel confident nor comfortable enough to address this issue. They also experience a lack of appropriate knowledge to address sexuality with patients. Professionals reported a need for courses and training on both knowledge and conversation skills concerning sexuality. In addition, a protocol and necessary facilities need to be provided for the team working with people with an ULD in order to be able to address sexuality systematically.

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Acknowledgments

Data collection was facilitated by the Working committee ‘Amputation and Prosthetics of the Arm’ (WAP-A) of the Netherlands Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (Nederlandse Vereniging van Revalidatieartsen; VRA).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Rehabilitation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J. E. A. Verschuren, J. H. B. Geertzen, P. U. Dijkstra, R. Dekker & C. K. van der Sluis

  2. Department of Development and Regeneration, Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 33, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    P. Enzlin

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Context, Center for Marital, Family and Sex Therapy, UPC KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 33, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    P. Enzlin

  4. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    P. U. Dijkstra

Authors
  1. J. E. A. Verschuren
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  2. J. H. B. Geertzen
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  3. P. Enzlin
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  4. P. U. Dijkstra
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  5. R. Dekker
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  6. C. K. van der Sluis
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Correspondence to J. E. A. Verschuren.

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Verschuren, J.E.A., Geertzen, J.H.B., Enzlin, P. et al. Addressing Sexuality as Standard Care in People with an Upper Limb Deficiency: Taboo or Necessary Topic?. Sex Disabil 31, 167–177 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-013-9298-4

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