정신병원에 입원한 정신장애인과 관련실무자의 성지식과 성의식

Knowledge and Awareness on Sex among Hospitalized Mentally Disabled and Related Practitioners

Purpose: The conduct of this study is to explore the knowledge and awareness on sex among hospitalized mentally disabled patients and related practitioners. Method: The subjects were 448 mentally disabled and 108 practitioners working in mental hospitals. The questionnaire consisted of 60 items. Data were collected from January 3 to February 15, 2010. Results: Knowledge on Sex among mentally disabled showed moderate scores receiving 20.51 out of 30 compared to sex awareness which received average 2.65 out of 4. Data showed significant differences on sex awareness between mental disabilities and related practitioners. Items which showed higher scores on sex awareness of mental disabilities include 'must ensure sexual purity for happy marriage', 'same sex marriage should be legalized', 'paid sexual relationship is wrong', and 'marriage should be prerequisite for sex life'. Items that showed higher scores on related practitioners' sex awareness were 'sex is one of the natural human desire', 'sexuality should be resolved in a proper way', and 'masturbation is a natural behavior'. Conclusion: Related practitioners should clearly find out sex knowledge and awareness of mental disabilities, and provide means to consider sex related problems and find methods to assist the mentally disabled.