Higgins Jenny A, Ryder Kristin, Skarda Grace, Koepsel Erica, Bennett Eliza A
Assistant professor at the department of Gender and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Project director at the department of Gender and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2015 Sep;47(3):115-22. doi: 10.1363/47e4515. Epub 2015 Aug 17.
The IUD is extremely effective but infrequently used by young adult women, who disproportionately experience unintended pregnancies. Research has not examined how IUD use may affect sexuality, which could in turn affect method acceptability, continuation and marketing efforts.
Focus group discussions and interviews were conducted in 2014 with 50 women between the ages of 18 and 29-either University of Wisconsin students or women from the surrounding community who received public assistance-to explore their thoughts about whether and how IUD use can affect sexual experiences. A modified grounded theory approach was used to identify common themes in terms of both experienced and anticipated sexual acceptability of the IUD.
Six themes emerged: security (IUD's efficacy can reduce sexual inhibition), spontaneity (IUD can allow for free-flowing sex), sexual aspects of bleeding and cramping (IUD's side effects can affect sex), scarcity of hormones (IUD has a low level of or no hormones, and reduces libido less than hormonal methods, such as the pill), string (IUD's string can detract from a partner's sexual experience) and stasis (IUD use can have no impact on sex). Some reported sexual aspects of IUD use were negative, but most were positive and described ever-users' method satisfaction and never-users' openness to use the method.
Future research and interventions should attend to issues of sexual acceptability: Positive sexual aspects of the IUD could be used promotionally, and counseling about sexual concerns could increase women's willingness to try the method.
宫内节育器（IUD）极为有效，但年轻成年女性很少使用，而这些女性意外怀孕的比例过高。此前的研究尚未探讨使用IUD会如何影响性行为，而这反过来可能会影响该方法的可接受性、持续使用情况及推广工作。
2014年，研究人员对50名年龄在18至29岁之间的女性进行了焦点小组讨论和访谈，这些女性要么是威斯康星大学的学生，要么是来自周边社区接受公共援助的女性，以探究她们对于使用IUD是否以及如何影响性体验的看法。采用一种经过改良的扎根理论方法，从IUD在性方面的实际可接受性和预期可接受性两方面来确定共同主题。
出现了六个主题：安全性（IUD的有效性可减少性抑制）、自发性（IUD可使性行为更加自然流畅）、出血和痛经的性方面（IUD的副作用会影响性行为）、激素含量少（IUD的激素含量低或不含激素，与口服避孕药等激素方法相比，对性欲的降低作用较小）、尾丝（IUD的尾丝会影响伴侣的性体验）和无影响（使用IUD对性行为可能没有影响）。一些人报告了使用IUD在性方面的负面情况，但大多数是正面的，描述了曾经使用过该方法的人的方法满意度以及从未使用过该方法的人对使用该方法的接受程度。
未来的研究和干预措施应关注性可接受性问题：IUD在性方面的积极方面可用于推广，针对性方面问题的咨询可提高女性尝试该方法的意愿。
