Sexual Function in Adult Patients With Spina Bifida and its Impact on Quality of Life

Purpose: We evaluated sexual function in adult patients with spina bifida and its impact on quality of life.Materials and Methods: Between March 2005 and May 2006, 76 adult patients with spina bifida, including 34 women and 42 men, with a mean age of 24.4 years (range 18 to 37) were seen for followup at our institution. Following institutional review board approval data were collected from medical records and validated questionnaires were completed, including the Watts Sexual Function Questionnaire to assess sexual function and SF-36™ to assess quality of life.Results: Of the 76 patients 18 (24%), including 9 women and 9 men, achieved sexual intercourse at least once in the last 2 months. There was no difference regarding gender distribution and mean age ± SD in sexually active vs not sexually active patients (25.8 ± 4.2 vs 24 ± 4.5 years, p = 0.13). All levels (thoracic to sacral) of myelomeningocele were seen in the 2 groups with significant higher lesions of neurological impairment in not sexually acti...