Experiences, attitudes, and needs related to sexuality and service delivery in individuals with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the experiences, attitudes, and needs related to service delivery regarding sexuality issues in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHODS

Community-dwelling individuals with TBI having completed a post-acute TBI rehabilitation program. The TBI sample consisted of 16 men (42.1%) and 22 women (57.9%), with an average age of 38.9 years (SD = 9.9) and 12.8 years of education (SD = 2.8). They were on average 2.6 years post-injury (SD = 1.4). Glasgow coma scale at admission was on average 12.6 (SD = 3.5). Participants completed a questionnaire adapted to individuals with TBI addressing experiences, attitudes, and needs regarding sexuality and service delivery.

RESULTS

Individuals with TBI reported a low frequency of specific discussions with their treating clinician(s) about sexual and reproductive health issues, as well as many unmet needs regarding sexuality. None of the participants considered discussion about these issues to be inappropriate. They reported more favourable attitudes towards discussing sexual health topics compared to actual service delivery with family physicians, general practitioners, psychologists, and other health care professionals (p's <  0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with TBI desired more openness about discussing sexual concerns. Findings are discussed in terms of the clinical implications to meet the individuals' needs regarding sexual concerns after TBI.