Bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction are overlooked in the management of neurological conditions: a qualitative interview study
Katie Webb, Gemma Clunie, Graeme Cossou, Holly Roy, Matthew Smith, Marcus Drake · 2026
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Description
Webb and colleagues spoke with 20 people with diverse nerve and brain conditions. They asked whether doctors ever asked about bladder, bowel, and sexual problems. These symptoms affect many patients from diagnosis onward, yet often stay unspoken. Participants ranged from 30 to 83 years old, and 13 of the 20 came from global majority backgrounds.
Analysis gave four themes, starting with dismissive clinical encounters and systemic pressures that squeezed these topics out of appointments. A second theme covered poor communication and expectation-setting, leaving patients to become rulers of their own care through self-advocacy and peer support networks. Grief ran through the third theme, as interviewees described mourning lost parts of themselves and struggling to describe altered sensations to professionals. The fourth, sex matters, captured gender differences and the persistently low priority of sexual health. The authors conclude diagnostic reasoning and management both neglect these functions.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Katie Webb, Gemma Clunie, Graeme Cossou, Holly Roy, Matthew Smith, Marcus Drake |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 50 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |