Sexual health and education guidelines for the care of people with spina bifida.
Amy Houtrow, Michele Roland
PMID 33361622WHAT IT FOUND
People with spina bifida often lack specific sexual health education and face higher risks of abuse.
Guidelines advise clinicians to discuss sexuality routinely, teach consent and safety skills early, and address bowel or bladder continence to support healthy relationships.
Key findings
01Individuals with spina bifida receive inadequate sexual education, with fewer than a quarter reporting that their education was specific to their condition.
02People with disabilities, including those with spina bifida, are at increased risk for sexual violence and abuse compared to non-disabled peers.
03Bowel and bladder incontinence interferes with sexual activity, while achieving continence enhances relationship seeking and sexual functioning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Many of the recommendations are based on clinical consensus rather than high-quality evidence, as several clinical questions were not answerable from existing literature. The guidelines do not report new patient outcomes or trial results, as this is a consensus statement rather than an empirical study.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these guidelines as evidence that specific interventions improve sexual outcomes. The recommendations are largely based on expert consensus and general population data, not on trials testing these approaches in people with spina bifida.