Body Image and Acceptance

Body image is a concept of how we view ourselves through seeing, acting, and feeling (Bailey et al. 2015). Following an injury, the way that an individual views themselves changes (New 2018). Body acceptance is a concept of body image and part of adjusting to the changes in an individual’s body following SCI (Nash et al. 2024). Little research has been conducted in this area that focuses on body image and acceptance with SCI. A few qualitative and observational studies capture patients’ subjective experiences.

Discussion

Six studies have recently been published examining body image, acceptance, and SCI. An observational study found that older individuals and those with non-traumatic SCI had lower total sexual- and body-esteem and subscale attractiveness to other scores (p<0.09) (New 2018). Qualitative studies indicate that people with SCI have concerns about their body, its appearance, and its functionality that are particular to sexual behaviour (Bailey et al. 2015; Merghati-Khoei et al. 2017b). Studies also indicate that physical dysfunction, in particular loss of bowel and bladder control and inability to walk, pose specific problems for people with SCI, their sexual functioning, and their body image acceptance. Similarly, Angel & Kroll (2020) studied the 10-year experiences of sexual life in people after SCI and found that ‘feeling attractive despite physical changing’ was one of the main themes that emerged. One participant felt “she had a less sexually attractive body, even though her husband assured her again and again that he found her attractive and loved her” highlighting that the effect of body image goes beyond partner reassurance (Angel & Kroll 2020).

Conclusion

There is level 5 evidence (New 2018) that patients with older age and non-traumatic SCI had lower PDSBE scores.

There is level 5 evidence (New 2018) that life satisfaction, physical health, and psychological health are all significantly associated to all domains of sexual- and body-esteem.