Perceptions of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder on How Health Care Providers Address Sexual Health.
Aanchal Sharma, David W Pantalone, Brooke Kohn and 3 others
PMID 38904653WHAT IT FOUND
Young adults with autism reported less sexual health counseling and abuse screening from providers than adults without autism, despite similar access to care and comfort discussing these topics.
Key findings
01Sexual health counseling was reported by 52% of the autism group and 81% of the matched non-autism group.
02Being asked about sexual abuse or unwanted sexual encounters was reported by 9% of the autism group and 32% of the non-autism group.
03Comfort discussing sexual health with providers did not differ between groups, and the median response for both groups was 'somewhat comfortable'.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 25 participants with autism were analysed, and the non-autism comparison group was reduced to 40 matched participants, so subgroup patterns cannot be examined well. The questionnaire was created for this study and was not tested for reliability or how consistently both groups understood it. Participants reported past conversations from memory, and no medical record data were used. The design cannot show why the groups differed or whether provider behaviour caused the gap. The autism group was older than the comparison group, so it had more lifetime opportunities for sexual health discussions, yet still reported fewer. Participants were verbally fluent and chose a sex-related study, so results may not apply to autistic adults with intellectual disability or less comfort with the topic.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 9% and 32% abuse screening gap as proof that autistic adults are less willing to discuss sexual health. The groups reported similar comfort, and the study did not test provider behaviour or any intervention.