Sexual attitudes of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

During the COVID-19 outbreak, which is effective worldwide, the psychological conditions of healthcare professionals deteriorate. The aim of this study was to examine health professionals’ changes in their sexual lives due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Istanbul, Turkey. This online survey was conducted between 2 and 26 May 2020 with 232 healthcare professionals working in a pandemic hospital. After obtaining informed consent, a questionnaire was sent online from the hospital database and health institutions social media accounts (Twitter®, Facebook®, Instagram®, WhatsApp® etc.) and e-mail addresses. The first section of the four-part questionnaire included demographic data, the second and third sections of pre-and post-COVID-19 attitudes, and the last section to assess sexual functions (International Index of Erecile Function for male and Female Sexual Function Index for female), anxiety and depression. Dependent sample t-test, Mc Nemar test, and multivariate analysis were used.The study was completed with 185 participants in total. Healthcare workers’ sexual desire (3.49 ± 1.12 vs. 3.22 ± 1.17; p = 0.003), weekly sexual intercourse/masturbation number (2.53 ± 1.12 vs. 1.32 ± 1.27; p < 0.001), foreplay time (16.38 ± 12.35 vs. 12.02 ± 12.14; p < 0.001), sexual intercourse time (24.65 ± 19.58 vs. 19.38 ± 18.85; p < 0.001) decreased compared to the Pre-COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, participants prefer less foreplay (p < 0.001), less oral sex (p < 0.001) and anal sex (p = 0.007) during COVID-19 and more non-face to face sexual intercourse positions (p < 0.001). When factors affecting sexual dysfunction were analyzed as univariate and multivariate, sexual dysfunction was shown to be significantly more common in males (OR = 0.053) and alcohol users (OR = 2.925). During the COVID-19 outbreak, healthcare workers’ sexual desires decreased, the number of sexual intercourses decreased, their foreplay times decreased, and their sexual intercourse positions changed to less face to face.