An increased risk of sexual health problems is seen among patients with chronic illnesses. The background is likely to be multifactorial, but it remains poorly understood.
To investigate the sexual ...health and functioning of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to examine gender differences, general population comparisons, and possible somatic, psychological, and disease-specific determinants.
A cross-sectional study using a digital questionnaire distributed among 380 patients diagnosed with RA in a Danish university hospital outpatient setting.
A range of patient-reported outcomes were obtained, including scores from the validated rating scale Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire. Furthermore, individual medical record information was collected.
A total of 329 patients (250 women and 79 men) were included (age range: 25–73 years; mean age: 57.2 years). The Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire scoring indicated an overall sexual dysfunction in 33.8% of men and 58.1% of women.More than one-third (37.6%) of patients felt that RA had made their sex life more complicated, and 32.4% feared that this might someday be the case. In total, 29.2% patients had experienced sexual problems due to their RA treatment. Of the respondents who experienced RA-related fatigue, 46.5% reported that this impacted negatively on their sexual activity. The risk of one or more sexual health adversities was significantly correlated with female gender, older age, moderate or severe depression, moderate to moderately high loneliness, more than 2 comorbidities, and a fatigue score above 75 out of 100 on a visual analogue scale. Compared to the general population, significantly fewer patients with RA considered their sex life important, and significantly fewer patients appraised their current sex life as good or very good. Moreover, significantly more women with RA (32.1%) than women from the general population (15.7%) had not had any sex life during the past year. A vast majority of patients with RA (93.5% of women and 85.5% of men) had not discussed sexual issues with a health-care professional during the last 5 years. Of all, 32.5% would like health-care professionals to address sexual topics in the consultation occasionally.
Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in patients with RA, but the problems are not regularly addressed in consultations provided by the rheumatology department.
Bay LT, Graugaard C, Nielsen DS, et al. Sexual Health and Dysfunction in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-sectional Single-Center Study. Sex Med 2020;8:615–630.
Objective
Loneliness has a negative impact on physical health, and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms can lead to social isolation. However, there is a lack of research exploring patients' perspectives on ...self‐perceived loneliness in everyday life with rheumatoid arthritis. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the meaning and importance of self‐perceived loneliness among adult patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
Methods
This study was designed as a qualitative, exploratory interview study using a narrative framework. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with Danish adults with rheumatoid arthritis. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed within a narrative thematic framework.
Results
Ten women and seven men were interviewed, aged between 18 and 73 years and a disease duration between 6 months and 40 years. Three themes were identified during the analysis: (1) explanations of loneliness in everyday life with rheumatoid arthritis, (2) disclosing or disguising loneliness, and (3) feelings of loneliness in social life.
Conclusion
The findings from this study show that loneliness can be burdensome when living with RA. Narratives of loneliness can be hard for patients to disclose, so health care practitioners should take responsibility for legitimizing this subject. A narrative approach in consultations may be helpful to support patients and to encourage a dialogue about loneliness in everyday life with rheumatoid arthritis.
Introduction
Research suggests that specific training on LGBT+ issues may improve the competencies and skills of health and social care (HSC) professionals, which reduces the negative attitudes ...toward LGBT+ people. Despite this, there seems to be a lack of coverage of LGBT+ needs in HSC education. The present study aims to explore the specific LGBT+ training needs of HSC professionals and to examine the relationship between these training needs and the four dimensions of the Papadopoulos model, i.e.
cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity,
and
cultural competence.
Methods
The research used data from a cross-cultural project, “Intercultural Education for Nurses in Europe (IENE9),” which was administered to 412 HSC academics and workers (62% females;
M
age
= 46.06,
SD
age
= 10.48) between February 2020 and July 2020, in seven European countries: UK (coordinator), Denmark, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, Italy, and Romania.
Results
Hierarchical multiple regression showed that higher training needs were associated with
cultural awareness
,
cultural knowledge
, and
cultural competence
. The need for training on LGBT+ issues was higher for Cyprus, Romania, Spain, Italy, and the UK, compared with Denmark (no differences between Germany and Denmark were found).
Conclusions
We believe that there has been a lack of focus on the LGBT+ training needs of HSC professionals: Greater efforts are required to develop a culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ curriculum.
Social Policy Implications
Findings from the present study will inform the development of a free, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), for culturally competent and compassionate HSC professionals in Europe to improve the quality of their care.
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