A study published online May 18 in Prosthetics and Orthotics International found that O&P students felt unprepared to address sexual health issues with their future clients and that there is a need to provide students with training related to sexual health issues.
To explore O&P students’ attitudes and competence about addressing patients’ sexual health topics and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Students’ Attitudes Towards Addressing Sexual Health questionnaire, 65 students enrolled in an undergraduate O&P program were asked to complete the questionnaire.
The study found that students felt unprepared to talk about sexual health with future clients, and the students thought that they would be embarrassed if they raised the issue. No differences were identified between students enrolled in each of the three years of the program, and few differences were observed between male and female students.
The content validity index values were low but improved as the students’ level of education increased, according to the study. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was acceptable. Reliability and validity were evaluated using the content validity index and Cronbach’s alpha.
