Beth Eubank

Abstract

The relationship between chronic illness and sexuality has long been recognized, and diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness affecting 16 million individuals in the United States. The purpose of this descriptive comparative study was to explore sexuality in the insulin-dependent diabetic female. The research hypothesis that guided the study was there is no difference in perceived sexuality for women with insulin-dependent diabetes and women without chronic illness. The sample consisted of 30 females between the ages of 21 and 40 years who had not experienced surgical menopause and were clients in primary care clinics in the Mississippi Delta. Fifteen of the participants were females with a self-reported diagnosis of insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus. The remaining 15 participants were females without a self-reported medical diagnosis of any chronic illness. The Derogatis Sexual Functioning Questionnaire was utilized to compare sexual functioning between the two groups. Descriptive statistics and z scores were utilized to analyze the data. The findings of this study indicated that a difference does exist in the sexual functioning of females with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and females without any chronic illness. iii Implications for the advanced practice nurse in the primary care setting includes the incorporation of sexual assessment as a requisite facet of a holistic assessment with every individual but particularly in the insulin- dependent diabetic female.

Degree

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Graduate Nursing

Degree Date

8-1-1996

Publication Number

27924532

First Advisor

Lorraine Hamm

Second Advisor

Mary Patricia Curtis

Document Type

Thesis

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