Relationship among Sexual Knowledge, Frequency, Satisfaction, Marital Intimacy and Levels of Depression in Stroke Survivors and Their Spouses

Jung-Hee Kim

doi:10.4040/jkan.2008.38.3.483

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Kim: Relationship among Sexual Knowledge, Frequency, Satisfaction, Marital Intimacy and Levels of Depression in Stroke Survivors and Their Spouses

research-article

J Korean Acad Nurs 2008;38(3):483-491.

Published online: 30 June 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2008.38.3.483

Relationship among Sexual Knowledge, Frequency, Satisfaction, Marital Intimacy and Levels of Depression in Stroke Survivors and Their Spouses

Jung-Hee Kim

Full-time Instructor, Department of Nursing, Woosuk University, Wanju, Korea

Address reprint requests to : Kim, Jung-Hee Department of Nursing, Woosuk University, 490 Samnye-eup, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do 565-701, Korea Tel: 82-63-290-1760 Fax: 82-63-290-1548 E-mail: jhee90@woosuk.ac.kr

Received 21 February 2008 Revised 26 February 2008 Accepted 3 June 2008

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between sexual knowledge, frequency, satisfaction, marital intimacy, and depression levels in stroke survivors and their spouses.

Methods

This study was a convenience sample of Korean men who had experienced a stroke and their spouses. The subjects were discharged from the hospital and received physical therapy. Data such as sexual knowledge, frequency, satisfaction, marital intimacy, and depression levels were collected from November 2005 to April 2006.

Results

In a comparison of stroke survivors and their spouses, the survivors showed higher mean levels of sexual knowledge and marital intimacy. The levels of knowledge, frequency, satisfaction and marital intimacy were low and depression was mild in the subjects. There were significant correlations between sexual frequency, sexual satisfaction and marital intimacy. Also, subjects with lower levels of sexual satisfaction were more depressed. The spouses who possessed greater levels of sexual knowledge reported a higher frequency of sex and greater marital intimacy. In addition, spouses who reported feeling greater levels of marital intimacy experienced fewer depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrate a need for the development of sexual adaptation programs which could be effective in improving sexual knowledge, frequency, satisfaction, marital intimacy, and depression reported by stroke patients and their spouses. Ideally, these corrective programs should be administered before patients are discharged from the hospital.

Keywords: Stroke, Spouses, Sexual behavior, Depression

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Table 1.

General Characteristics of Subjects (N=62)

		Stroke survivors	Spouses
		n (%) or M±SD	n (%) or M±SD
Age (yr)	40-49	3 (9.7)	9 (29.0)
	50-59	22 (71.0)	20 (64.5)
	60-65	6 (19.3)	2 (6.5)
		55.48±4.54	52.3±5.46
Education level	Middle school	10 (32.3)	20 (64.5)
	High school	13 (41.9)	10 (32.3)
	≥College	8 (25.8)	1 (3.2)
Family income (10,000 won)	<100	15 (48.4)
	100-199	8 (25.8)
	≥200	8 (25.8)
Economic status	Low	16 (51.6)	22 (71.0)
	Moderate	14 (45.2)	6 (19.3)
	Sufficient	1 (3.2)	3 (9.7)
Occupation	No	27 (87.1)	18 (58.1)
Occupation	Yes	4 (12.9)	13 (41.9)

Table 2.

Health related Characteristics (N=62)

Subject	Characteristics		Category	n (%)	M±SD	Min-max	Possible range
Stroke survivals	Physical deficit	Muscle weakness	Right	15 (48.4)
		Muscle weakness	Left	16 (51.6)
		Dysarthria	Yes	5 (16.1)
		Dysarthria	No	26 (83.9)
	Disease	Hypertension	Yes	18 (58.1)
		Hypertension	No	13 (41.9)
		Diabetic mellitus	Yes	6 (19.4)
		Diabetic mellitus	No	25 (80.6)
	Years since diagnosis		<1	5 (16.1)	67.84±48.61	10-228
	Years since diagnosis		1-3	11 (35.5)
	Mean blood pressure		≥3	15 (48.4)	110.20±9.98	96.50-136.00
	Activities of daily living				20.00±0.00		0-20
	Cognitive function				27.94±1.65	25-30	0-30
Spouses	Disease	Hypertension	Yes	6 (19.4)
		Hypertension	No	25 (80.6)
		Diabetic mellitus	Yes	3 (9.7)
		Diabetic mellitus	No	28 (90.3)
		Urinary incontinence	Yes	2 (6.5)
		Urinary incontinence	No	29 (93.5)
		No disease	Yes	15 (48.4)
		No disease	No	16 (51.6)
	Menopause		Yes	18 (58.1)
	Menopause		No	13 (41.9)
	Years since menopause		<3	5 (16.1)	63.22±52.02	12-210
			3-5	9 (29.0)
			≥5	4 (12.9)

Table 3.

Differences of Variables between Stroke Survivals and their Spouses (N=62)

Variables		Stroke survivors		Spouses		Possible range	t (p)
Variables		M±SD	Min- max	M±SD	Min- max	Possible range	t (p)
Sexual knowledge		9.29±3.13	5-15	5.45±3.88	0-12	0-19	-5.163 (.000)
Sexual frequency		8.41±4.32	4-20	8.00±4.74	4-19	4-20	-0.259 (.798)
Sexual satisfaction		3.10±2.49	0-8	2.00±1.70	0-6	0-8	1.680 (.106)
Marital intimacy	Cognitive	18.83±3.72	9-24	16.44±3.92	9-21	5-25	-2.274 (.032)
	Emotional	18.32±3.53	12-24	15.56±4.23	9-23	5-25	-2.828 (.009)
	Sexual	15.00±4.91	8-25	11.72±5.48	5-21	5-25	-3.897 (.001)
	Total	52.16±10.21	33-71	49.0±9.50	30-67	15-75	-2.274 (.032)
Depression		18.96±8.39	6-37	17.96±4.19	9-28	0-60	-0.689 (.497)

Table 4.

Correlations among Variables in Stroke Survivors (N=31)

Variables	Sexual frequency	Sexual satisfaction	Marital intimacy	Depression
Variables	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
Sexual knowledge	.219 (.236)	-.059 (.752)	.201 (.297)	-.233 (.208)
Sexual frequency		.598 (.000)	.584 (.001)	-.339 (.062)
Sexual satisfaction			.612 (.000)	-.500 (.004)
Marital intimacy				-.311 (.088)

Table 5.

Correlations among Variables in Spouses (N=31)

Variables	Sexual frequency	Sexual satisfaction	Marital intimacy	Depression
Variables	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
Sexual knowledge	.355 (.007)	.084 (.537)	.331 (.013)	-.219 (.105)
Sexual frequency		.524 (.000)	.647 (.000)	-.424 (.001)
Sexua satisfaction			.556 (.000)	-.501 (.000)
Marital intimacy				-.408 (.002)

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