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Sexual Experiences of Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury: The Somatic-Sexual Transition Framework

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Abstract

This qualitative study uses interpretive phenomenology to explain the sexual experiences of individuals with spinal cord injury in Catalonia (Spain). Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed simultaneously using Colaizzi’s method. Nine adults with spinal cord injury (seven men and two women) were selected through convenience and snowball sampling. Findings show that the sexual experiences of these individuals were understood using a model that emerged from this study -The Somatic-Sexual Transition- a framework comprising five stages: body disengagement, body frustration, body re-engagement, somatic resilience, and sexual autonomy. These identified stages allow healthcare professionals to better understand the sexuality of individuals with spinal cord injury while also highlighting the importance of up-to-date sex education during the rehabilitation process.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the individuals who kindly shared their time and experience for the purposes of this study, and also the institutions that generously helped during the recruitment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Sciences Teacher. Education Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    Leila Touil-Satour

  2. Nursing Research Group in Vulnerability and Health (GRIVIS). Nursing Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan M. Leyva-Moral

Authors
  1. Leila Touil-Satour
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  2. Juan M. Leyva-Moral
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leila Touil-Satour.

Ethics declarations

The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the XXXXX (hidden for blinding purposes). This study did not receive any funding. Authors declare no conflicts of interest. The COREQ guidelines were used to ensure the reporting of this qualitative study.

Consent to participate

Before starting the interviews, all the details of the study were written and also provided orally so that the participants could sign the informed consent in a safe way, and the recordings were destroyed once transcribed.

Informed consent

was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical approval

was obtained by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

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Touil-Satour, L., Leyva-Moral, J.M. Sexual Experiences of Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury: The Somatic-Sexual Transition Framework. Sex Disabil 40, 425–437 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-022-09745-z

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