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Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
BACKGROUND: U.S. veterans of recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be at greater risk for sexual dysfunction due to injuries, mental health conditions, medications used to treat those conditions, and psychosocial factors. OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of recent Veterans about sexual health...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4599551/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26468377 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sm2.62 |
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author | Helmer, Drew A Beaulieu, Gregory Powers, Catherine Houlette, Cheryl Latini, David Kauth, Michael |
author_facet | Helmer, Drew A Beaulieu, Gregory Powers, Catherine Houlette, Cheryl Latini, David Kauth, Michael |
author_sort | Helmer, Drew A |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: U.S. veterans of recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be at greater risk for sexual dysfunction due to injuries, mental health conditions, medications used to treat those conditions, and psychosocial factors. OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of recent Veterans about sexual health and dysfunction, contributing factors, its impact and solutions. DESIGN: Qualitative study. PARTICIPANTS: Eight men who screened positive for sexual dysfunction at initial presentation to a postdeployment clinic at a Veterans Affairs medical center APPROACH: Patients who screened positive for sexual dysfunction and indicated an interest in participating were contacted and scheduled for an in-person private interview with a researcher. Interviews were semistructured, utilizing open-ended and follow-up probe questions to elicit the individual's perspective about sexual dysfunction and its cause, impact and solutions. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed for themes. KEY RESULTS: These heterosexual men discussed a range of sexual dysfunction in their activities including lack of desire, erectile dysfunction, delayed orgasm, premature ejaculation, and distraction. They also discussed the importance of setting or context and changes over time to their sexual health and function. The men shared their ideas about contributory factors, including normal aging, medication side effects, injury and a possible role for combat deployment more generally. Reported solutions for sexual dysfunction included medications, herbal remedies, and new positions and approaches to sexual activity. Participants reported discussing sexual dysfunction with their health-care providers and what was helpful. Finally, the men expressed in their own words the significant impact of sexual dysfunction on their self-perception, their partners, and their relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual dysfunction in recent combat veterans can have important negative effects on their health and relationships. Our findings elucidate perceived contributory factors and preferred solutions, which can be applied by health-care providers to improve the management of sexual dysfunction in these patients. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4599551 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-45995512015-10-14 Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Helmer, Drew A Beaulieu, Gregory Powers, Catherine Houlette, Cheryl Latini, David Kauth, Michael Sex Med Original Research—Men's Sexual Health BACKGROUND: U.S. veterans of recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be at greater risk for sexual dysfunction due to injuries, mental health conditions, medications used to treat those conditions, and psychosocial factors. OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of recent Veterans about sexual health and dysfunction, contributing factors, its impact and solutions. DESIGN: Qualitative study. PARTICIPANTS: Eight men who screened positive for sexual dysfunction at initial presentation to a postdeployment clinic at a Veterans Affairs medical center APPROACH: Patients who screened positive for sexual dysfunction and indicated an interest in participating were contacted and scheduled for an in-person private interview with a researcher. Interviews were semistructured, utilizing open-ended and follow-up probe questions to elicit the individual's perspective about sexual dysfunction and its cause, impact and solutions. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed for themes. KEY RESULTS: These heterosexual men discussed a range of sexual dysfunction in their activities including lack of desire, erectile dysfunction, delayed orgasm, premature ejaculation, and distraction. They also discussed the importance of setting or context and changes over time to their sexual health and function. The men shared their ideas about contributory factors, including normal aging, medication side effects, injury and a possible role for combat deployment more generally. Reported solutions for sexual dysfunction included medications, herbal remedies, and new positions and approaches to sexual activity. Participants reported discussing sexual dysfunction with their health-care providers and what was helpful. Finally, the men expressed in their own words the significant impact of sexual dysfunction on their self-perception, their partners, and their relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual dysfunction in recent combat veterans can have important negative effects on their health and relationships. Our findings elucidate perceived contributory factors and preferred solutions, which can be applied by health-care providers to improve the management of sexual dysfunction in these patients. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2015-09 2015-05-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4599551/ /pubmed/26468377 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sm2.62 Text en Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Sexual Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Sexual Medicine. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. |
spellingShingle | Original Research—Men's Sexual Health Helmer, Drew A Beaulieu, Gregory Powers, Catherine Houlette, Cheryl Latini, David Kauth, Michael Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title | Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title_full | Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title_fullStr | Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title_full_unstemmed | Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title_short | Perspectives on Sexual Health and Function of Recent Male Combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan |
title_sort | perspectives on sexual health and function of recent male combat veterans of iraq and afghanistan |
topic | Original Research—Men's Sexual Health |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4599551/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26468377 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sm2.62 |
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