Sexual Health in Post-Stroke Patients

A stroke is a clinical syndrome characterized by developing signs of local impairment of brain function due to the lack of cerebral blood flow ultimately causing necrosis and death of neurons in the region where the stroke occurred. Most of the stroke survivors have residual disabilities such as motor and cognitive dysfunctions, speech problems, or behavioral problems among others. All these disabilities may affect the stroke survivor’s sexuality in different ways. Many studies on sexuality in post-stroke patients conclude that there is a lack of information about this topic and both healthcare professionals and patients need more information. The recommendation is that sexual health should be addressed during the sub-acute and chronic phases after the stroke. It should be addressed from a biopsychosocial-multimodal perspective as well as considering psychological, motor, and genitourinary dysfunctions. Furthermore, there is lack of information when we try to answer questions exclusively related to women (sexuality, motherhood, and menstruation) or the LGBTQIA+ collective.