Sexual functioning and the effect of fatigue in traumatic brain injury

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Study examined specific aspects of sexual functioning (frequency, desired frequency, importance, and satisfaction) and their relationship to fatigue in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with those without brain injury. The relationship of demographic variables, emotional well-being, and health-related quality of life to sexual functioning was also explored. Data were collected through administration of self-report measures and interviews as part of a larger study of post-TBI fatigue. Two hundred twenty community-dwelling adults with self-reported mild-to-severe TBI and 83 individuals without brain injury completed the following measures: the Participation Objective, Participation Subjective, (a measure of community integration); the Fatigue Assessment Instrument and the Global Fatigue Index (fatigue); the Beck Depression Inventory (depression), and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (health-related quality of life). Several aspects of sexual activity (frequency, desired frequency, and importance) were closely related to specific features of fatigue among individuals with TBI. Women with TBI reported lower frequency and lower importance of sex than men. In individuals without brain injury, the impact of fatigue was limited to the frequency of sexual activity with no sex differences observed. The findings suggest that fatigue plays a different role in the subjective experience of sexual activity for men and women with TBI than for those without brain injuries.

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