Abstract
Study design:
Secure, web-based survey.
Objectives:
Elicit specific information about sexual function from men with spinal cord injuries (SCI).
Setting:
World-wide web.
Methods:
Individuals 18 years or older living with SCI obtained a pass-code to enter a secure website and then answered survey questions.
Results:
The presence of genital sensation was positively correlated with the ability to feel a build up of sexual tension in the body during sexual stimulation and in the feeling that mental arousal translates to the genitals as physical sensation. There was an inverse relationship between developing new areas of arousal above the level of lesion and not having sensation or movement below the lesion. A positive relationship existed between the occurrence of spasticity during sexual activity and erectile ability. Roughly 60% of the subjects had tried some type of erection enhancing method. Only 48% had successfully achieved ejaculation postinjury and the most commonly used methods were hand stimulation, sexual intercourse, and vibrostimulation. The most commonly cited reasons for trying to ejaculate were for pleasure and for sexual intimacy. Less than half reported having experienced orgasm postinjury and this was influenced by the length of time postinjury and sacral sparing.
Conclusion:
SCI not only impairs male erectile function and ejaculatory ability, but also alters sexual arousal in a manner suggestive of neuroplasticity. More research needs to be pursued in a manner encompassing all aspects of sexual function.
Sponsorship:
Christopher Reeve Foundation (#36708, KDA); Reeve-Irvine Research Center.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dave Pataky for technical assistance related to setting up the survey software and website. Additionally, we thank the Vancouver-based GF Strong Sexual Health Rehabilitation team for their input in the development of the questionnaire. Above all else, sincere gratitude is expressed to the community living with spinal cord injury for their continued willingness to provide input about important and real issues related to SCI to better enable researchers to ask and answer clinically relevant questions through experimental means.
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Anderson, K., Borisoff, J., Johnson, R. et al. Long-term effects of spinal cord injury on sexual function in men: implications for neuroplasticity. Spinal Cord 45, 338–348 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101978
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101978
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