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Comparative Studies | Health and Medical Sciences | India | Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2024
A Comparative Study of Sexual Attitudes among Clinically Stable Patients of Schizophrenia and Normal Population
Dr. Malleeka Bora [2] | Dr. Soumitra Ghosh [2]
Abstract: Background: An important facet that remains continually evasive in the ministrations of patients suffering from Schizophrenia is the sexual domain. The perspectives of patients of Schizophrenia towards sexuality (or Sexual Attitudes) are crucial with respect to the disease process itself (negative symptoms) and its progression, physical health, stigmatization, use of psychotropic medications and compliance. Sexuality is one of the four basic psychological needs for an individual besides attachment, autonomy & self - esteem. Even so this domain remains relatively out of focus, less studied, less addressed and less documented. Aims and Objectives: To assess and compare the sexual attitudes of patients of schizophrenia with that of normal controls. Materials and Methods: Every consecutive case who attended or who was admitted in the study period was selected till the total sample size was reached. An age, sex and socio - culturally matched control group was selected from normal healthy population. A written informed consent was taken from each participant of both the study and control groups. They were free to withdraw their consent at any given point of time. A socio - demographic data of each patient was tabulated in the demographic sheet by interview method. After this, clinical stabilities of patients were assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) following which a Brief Sexual Attitude Scale (BSAS) was provided to every patient. Sexual Attitudes were tested between patients of schizophrenia and normal controls through the BSAS. Results: We infer that although patients of Schizophrenia scored more on the domain of ?Instrumentality?, meaning that they viewed sex more as a natural, biological and a self - oriented aspect of life; yet the changes observed in their sexual attitudes were not statistically significant when compared to that of normal controls. Their attitudes towards sex continued to remain same, implying that sexuality is just as indispensable to them as to the normal population; and hence sexual dysfunction due to disease progression or use of psychotropic medications will only result in struggle to form relationships and poor treatment compliance. Conclusion: Objective assessment of sexuality is undoubtedly difficult, so more focus is needed to improve the rating scales. Clinicians must be more informed on this domain and make questioning about sexuality an integral part of a routine clinical interview; and thereby come up with more efficient methods in its management.
Keywords: Schizophrenia, Sexuality, Sexual Attitudes, Psychotropic medications, Stigmatization
Edition: Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2024,
Pages: 1265 - 1267