Sexuality in old age: knowledge/attitude of nurses of Family Health Strategy

Cross-sectional, exploratory, descriptive, quantitative study with nurses of the Family Health Strategy of the city of Sobral-CE. The instruments used were a socio-demographic and professional questionnaire and the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale, Brazilian version. Data were processed in GraphPad Prism 5^®, and the significance level was set at p<0.05.

Results

The participants were 56 nurses, most of them female, young adults, who reported they were able to provide orientations about sexuality. The mean score in the knowledge dimension was 29.95 (SD=2.21), in a range of 20 to 60; the mean score in the attitude dimension was 27.14 (SD=2.19), in a range of eight to 40. Participants who declared receiving permanent health education and conducting health education on sexuality presented a significantly favorable knowledge, but no statistically significant attitude.

Conclusion

Nurses have adequate knowledge about sexuality in old age, but still present conservative attitudes. Investing in processes of continuing health education can improve the knowledge and practice of nurses.

Older Adult; Sexuality; Aging; Geriatric Nursing; Attitude of Health Professionals; Family Health Strategy

Variable	N	%
Gender
Female	50	89.29
Male	6	10.71
Age (years)
23 – 28	14	25.00
29 – 34	15	26.79
35 – 40	7	12.50
41 – 46	5	8.93
47 – 52	5	8.93
53 – 58	7	12.50
59 – 64	2	3.57
65 – 70	1	1.79
Time working in the FHS
≤1 – 5 years	29	51.79
6 – 10 years	9	16.07
11 – 15 years	6	10.71
>15 years	12	21.43
Specialization degree in geriatrics or gerontology
Yes	1	1.79
No	55	98.21
Other academic titles
None	13	23.21
Specialization	43	76.79
Received CHE on Older Adult’s Health
Yes	23	41.07
No	33	58.93
Addresses the subject of sexuality with older adults in the nursing consultation
Yes	34	60.71
No	22	39.29
Can provide orientations to the older adults when they talk/ask about sexuality
Yes	53	94.64
No	3	5.36
Carries out health education actions regarding sexuality with groups of older adults
Yes	14	25.00
No	42	75.00

Variables	Knowledge	p-value	Attitude	p-value
Time working
≤1 – 5 years	29.67 ± 3.60	0.878	27.08 ± 4.32	0.352
6 – 10 years	29.80 ± 5.07		27.40 ± 1.07
11 – 15 years	30.00 ± 5.32		26.42 ± 1.61
>15 years	30.90 ± 4.45		27.91 ± 3.30
Specialization degree
No	28.15 ± 2.94	0.196	25.85 ± 5.61	0.516
Yes	30.02 ± 4.32		27.58 ± 2.17
Received continuing education on Older Adult’s Health
No	30.45 ± 4.07	0.031*	27.45 ± 1.73	0.729
Yes	28.61 ± 4.22		27.22 ± 5.23
Addresses sexuality in the nursing consultations
No	30.82 ± 4.42	0.100	27.27 ± 1.66	0.513
Yes	29.09 ± 3.88		27.12 ± 4.07
Carries out health education actions regarding sexuality with groups of older adults
No	30.45 ± 4.54	0.027*	27.38 ± 3.72	0.208
Yes	27.43 ± 1.65		27.07 ± 1.20
ASKAS (population studies)
p-value (0.0038)*	29.77 ± 4.15		27.18 ± 3.32
ASKAS (population studied per territory)
p-value (0.0003)*	29.95 ± 2.21		27.14 ± 2.19

Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 419 , 05403-000 São Paulo - SP/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 3061-7553, - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: reeusp@usp.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Jamylle Lucas Diniz Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú Av. Comandante Maurocélio Rocha Pontes, 186 CEP 62042-280 – Sobral, CE, Brazil jamylledz@hotmail.com