Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenges in Women With Physical-Motor Problems and Their Solutions

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to identify the sexual and reproductive health challenges in women with\rphysical-motor problems in five domains of sexual health, screening for common diseases, maternal health,\rprevention of unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.\rMaterials & Methods This review study was conducted in 2016. Articles on the related topic were searched\rin the following databases: Proquest, Scopus, Springer, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, Iranmedex, MagiranIrandoc,\rSID, and Ovid. A total of 61 related research papers, including quantitative and qualitative researches in\rEnglish and Persian, from the last 15 years papers (from 18 different countries since 2000) were included in\rthis study. Articles with unknown sample size and methodology or those conducted only on mentally handicapped\rindividuals or men were excluded. In addition, articles with no full text access were also excluded.\rResults It was found that, in the majority of communities, there was a lack of knowledge about disabilities and\rhow to provide health services to women with physical-motor problems. Insurance and financial problems\rwere the most common reasons for inaccessibility to health care. Other problems included the lack of physical\raccess to health centers, negative attitudes of service providers, lack of effective communications, unfriendly\rphysical structure, and lack of equipments. The Pap smear and mammography screening services were very\rpoor; most of these services did not have the necessary approval from doctors. Other causes included lacking\rnecessity of performing the test, physical and cognitive limitations, and lacking access to the facilities. In\raddition, low knowledge and poor family planning care were also evident. In Iran, people with disabilities\rhad received significantly less care and family planning. Most of these women considered pregnancy and\rchildbirth to be normal . Despite the differences in the provision of services in pregnancy and childbirth, the\rparticipants expressed positive experience during this period, although they did face increased complications\rof pregnancy and delivery. These women are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases and are provided with\rweak sexual counseling about sexuality because most of the doctors believed that they have no sex.\rConclusion Thus, due to the low knowledge and received sexual-reproductive health care in this group, community\rawareness, particularly for those related to the disabled individuals, is one of the main programs that\rcan lead to the understanding and proper achievement of techniques for family and community adaptation.\rThis will also improve the rehabilitation services. It is important to devise a way to increase the attention of\rthe concerned authorities toward the people with disabilities for better implementation of health policies for\rsuch individuals.