Talking about sex: a qualitative study on the physician’s inner experience

Journal title RIVISTA DI SESSUOLOGIA CLINICA
Author/s Daniela Leone, Ivan Fossati, Edoardo Pescatori, Elena Vegni
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2 Language English
Pages 19 P. 51-69 File size 258 KB
DOI 10.3280/RSC2017-002004
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The study aimed to explore clinicians’ subjective difficulties related to talking with patients about sexuality. Forty-four physicians were recruited during a one-day congress about erectile dysfunction, where they were asked to write a narrative about an episode in which they found themselves in difficulty talking with a patient about sex. Narratives were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four main issues with sub-issues arose from the data: 1. What: cognitive contents and emotions; 2. How: talking about sex, the problem of language; 3. As if: the metaphoric view of the profession; 4. Who: me as a man. Clinical and educational implications are discussed.

Keywords: Erectile dysfunction; Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA); physicians’ inner life; physician-patient relationship; qualitative research; talking about sex.

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Daniela Leone, Ivan Fossati, Edoardo Pescatori, Elena Vegni, Talking about sex: a qualitative study on the physician’s inner experience in "RIVISTA DI SESSUOLOGIA CLINICA" 2/2017, pp 51-69, DOI: 10.3280/RSC2017-002004