Sexual adjustment of women with spinal cord injuries

The sexual concerns and well-being of spinal cord-injured (SCI) patients have received increasing attention during the past decade. However, research on the sexuality of SCI women has been limited. A 61-item questionnaire was therefore developed and administered to 23 women with SCI (18 paraplegic and 5 quadriplegic) ranging in age from 22-60 years, average 38.5 years. 31% had been married before and 17% married after the injury; 48% were single. As expected, the injury had a negative effect on the sexuality of most subjects. 30% had completely stopped having intercourse as a result of the injury and in 20% the frequency of intercourse had decreased significantly. Only 39% were satisfied with the frequency of intercourse. Of the remaining women, 30% indicated a desire for more frequent intercourse and only two wanted to decrease frequency. Of the 16 sexually active subjects, about half had not lost ability to reach orgasm in intercourse. However, only 18.7% of them reach orgasm on most occasions. The younger and better educated who were single, or who had married after they were injured, and those who had been able to reach orgasm before the injury were more likely to be able to reach orgasm after the injury, and were more satisfied with their sex lives. The need for sex-counseling and instruction, which none had received during rehabilitation, was emphasized by most of the subjects.