Results from a preliminary study on the theme of sexuality for therapeutic patient education for people with inflammatory arthritis

Objective. - The objective of this study was to survey nurses and patients about the need to address the sexuality issue as part of therapeutic patient education (TPE). Method. - First, a qualitative study was conducted in the form of a nurse focus group. Second, semi-structured interviews were led with fourteen rheumatoid arthritis or spondyloarthritis patients.Results. - An analysis of verbatim transcriptions of the focus group revealed 5 themes: an absence of any obligation to address the subject, barriers, lack of dedicated training, difficulties related to organizing TPE, and practical concerns on how to broach the issue. All but one patient agreed to address the issue. Over half of the patients reported disease-related impacts on their sex life. Conclusion. - This study mainly highlights barriers encountered by nurses. Healthcare professionals need better training to address these concerns.Practice implication. - Improved care in this area requires training for professionals. It seems relatively easy to address this theme of sexuality as a continuum from the other questions concerning social, family and "psychological" life. Dialogue and understanding within the couple seem to be important to ensuring "satisfactory" sexuality. It seems important to work on the role of the spouse in patient education.(c) 2021 Sexologies. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.