Doctor of Physical Therapy Sexual Health Curricular Content and Delivery: A Qualitative, National Study of Physical Therapist Educators

Background: Sexual health is an important element of overall health and well-being; unfortunately, physical therapists often feel unprepared to address sexual health with their patients. Methods: This qualitative, phenomenological research study investigated and described sexual health curricula in US-based Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs based on interviews with a sample of DPT faculty (n = 15) who teach sexual health. Results: Participants represented a wide range of personal and professional characteristics and provided detailed descriptions of the content and delivery methods, thus establishing the first known data set related to this issue. Participants reported a variety of content, design, and delivery strategies, indicating a lack of consistency and the absence of formal curricular guidelines. Participants demonstrated more concordance on the most commonly taught sexual health content areas (pelvic health, LGBTQIA+ health, and neurology) but vast variability across the less frequently taught content areas. There was minimal participant concordance on delivery methods, even for participants who taught the same content areas. Discussion: Further research, including a quantitative survey open to all DPT sexual health educators, is needed to form a complete inventory of the sexual health content and delivery methods being used in DPT programs. Future related studies should also include the viewpoints of students and patients. Although research is warranted to further understand the experiences of students learning this content and the opinions of the patients who ultimately participate in physical therapy, this study provides a deeper understanding of the sexual health content that is currently taught in US-based DPT programs.