A Study on the Relations between sexuality and quality of life in diabetic women

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level sexuality of diabetic women, and analized relations between sexuality and quality of life in diabetic women, provide basic data contributed in nursing intervention. A convenience sample consisted of 70 subjects with diabetes who attended outpatient department of A university hospital and C university hospital in S city. After verbal consent was obtained, subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire including BISF-W (Brief Index Sexuality Function-Women) developed by Taylor et. al(1994) and Smithkline Beecham's 'Quality of life' scale. Data were collected from April 27 to May 22, 2006. The data collected were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, x²-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correalation using SPSS 12.0 program. 1. The survey results on the degree of sexual dysfunction of the subjects by type of dysfunction are as follows: Concerning the degree of sexual desire disorder, 61.4% of the subjects responded that they had "no sexual thought or fantasy", and 54.3% responded that they had "no desire for sexual intercourse." To the question on "Who first demanded sexual intercourse?", 72.9% responded that their husband did. To the question "What was your response to your husband's demand for sexual intercourse?", 65.7% responded that they mostly rejected it. To the question "How often did you have sexual intercourse?", 58.6% responded that they had it as often as they wanted. For the degree of sexual arousal disorder, 24.3% responded that they "did not feel sexual arousal at all from their sexual experience" and 30,0% responded that they "felt a suppression of sexual arousal." With regard to the degree of orgasmic disorder, 25.7% responded that they felt no orgasm at all. Concerning the degree of sexual pain disorder, 70.0% had "a lack of vaginal lubrication", 27.1% "a pain after sexual intercourse," 10.0% a headache after sexual intercourse, and 10.0% a vaginal infection after sexual intercourse. 2. The survey results on the subjects' recognition of the characteristics of sexual function were as follows: To the question "Did your health condition, i.e. diabetes affected your sex life," 58.9% responded that it did. To the question "Can you openly talk about sexual life with your husband?", 27.1% responded that they could not. To the question "Is there any change in your satisfaction on your sex life?", 30.0% responded that it decreased. To the question on their satisfaction on their sexual relationship with their husband, 37.1% were not satisfied. To the question on their satisfaction on "their looks," 35.7% were not satisfied. To the question "How important sexual intercourse is in your life?", 22.9% responded that it was not important. 3. The test of differences in sexual dysfunction according to demographic, health- and disease-related characteristics revealed that significant differences existed only with regard to menopause (p<.002) and age (p<.023). 4. The average score of the quality of life for the subjects was 118.00 against the highest score of 230, which was a little higher than the middle level. According to area, the score for vitality was the highest while that for physical well-being was the lowest. 5. From the analysis of the correlations between sexual function and the quality of life, no significant correlations were found between the degree of sexual dysfunction and the quality of life. In conclusion, this study discovered that the degree of sexual dysfunction of women with diabetes was high, and in particular that most of the women with diabetes did not have satisfactory sex life because of lack of vaginal lubrication, lower sexual desire, lower orgasm, and sexual pain. However, there was no difference in the recognition on the quality of life between normal and diabetic women. As the sexual function of women varies widely among individuals, we would like to emphasize the importance of sexual counselling and education programs to improve the quality of life of diabetic women to prevent or relieve their sexual dysfunction.

Author dc:creator

• 진, 동순

Contributors dc:contributor

• 박, 지원
• 대학원 간호학과
• 200424138

• 당뇨여성
• 성기능
• 삶의질

Language dc:language

ko

Identifier

http://dcoll.ajou.ac.kr:9080/dcollection/jsp/common/DcLoOrgPer.jsp?sItemId=000000001697
000000001697

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.ajou.ac.kr:201003/914