OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors which influence the level of sexual adjustment. METHOD: A total of 96 subjects were enrolled in this study. The measuring instruments consisted of the dependent variables related to the perception of sexual adjustment and the independent variables that have an influence on sexual adjustment. The dependent variables were comprised of three sub-elements: satisfaction with sexual life, negative attitudes and prejudices, and sexual attractiveness. The independent variables were comprised of physical factors including sexual functioning; psychological factors including self-esteem, depression, the acceptance of disability, and ego-resilience; and domestic factors including feelings of intimacy with the partner, and support from family. RESULTS: The level of the sexual adjustment in men with spinal cord injury (SCI) was relatively high. When considering the correlation between the factors and sexual adjustment, the level of intimacy with the partner showed the highest correlation, followed by depression, ego-resilience, self-esteem, acceptance of disability, support from family, and sexual functioning, respectively. Finally, sexual adjustments were mainly influenced by psychological and domestic factors such as the intimacy with the partner and depression. CONCLUSION: Despite the disability of sexual function, men with SCI, recorded overall high levels of the sexual adjustment. The level of intimacy with the partner and depression were the variables that had effects on sexual adjustment.
Depression ; Humans ; Male ; Prejudice ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that uptake of 18Fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose in head and neck cancer, as determined by the standardized uptake value (SUV) on positron emission tomography scan (PET scan), is associated with the biology of tumor. The aims of this study were to confirm the association with the biology of tumor and to establish whether a high SUV had prognostic significance. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Thirty patients with the head and neck cancer diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma underwent a PET scan before treatment. SUVs were analyzed for possibility correlated with diseasefree survival. RESULTS: In univariate survival analysis, when patients were divided into two groups based on the SUV cut-off value of 8, the group whose SUV was greater than 8 in the pre-treatment PET scan showed significantly worse outcome (p=0.029). Correlation analysis demonstrated that SUV provided prognostic information independent of the tumor size, pathologic differentiation and stage. CONCLUSION: We conclude that high FDG uptake on PET (SUV >8 in pre-treatment PET scan) is an important prognostic indicator for poor outcome. Identified patients are thought to require intensive treatment protocol and more careful follow up.
Biology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Head and Neck Neoplasms* ; Head* ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography*