People with serious mental illness have sexual health needs but there is little evidence to inform effective interventions to address them. This exploratory study found it is acceptable and feasible to undertake a trial promoting sexual health for people with serious mental illness.
People who live with SMI are sexually active and some engage in sexual risk behaviour, such as condom-less sex. This could be why people with serious mental illness are at increased risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancy and abortion, compared to the general population. There is little evidence to inform effective interventions to address the sexual health needs of people with serious mental illness. The aim of the study was to establish the acceptability and feasibility of a trial of a sexual health promotion intervention for people with serious mental illness in the UK.
The RESPECT study was a two-armed randomised controlled, open feasibility trial comparing sexual health promotion, the intervention, to treatment as usual, the control, for adults aged 18 or over, with serious mental illness. The main outcomes of interest were the percentage who consented to participate, retention and completeness of data collection. A nested qualitative study obtained the views of participants regarding the acceptability of the study.
The study took place in the NHS community mental health services which provided mental health support to community dwelling people with severe mental illness in four UK cities. A total of 72 people were enrolled in the trial over 12 months.
This study was able to recruit a sample of people who are living with serious mental illness and retain them in both the intervention and data collection. The topic did not trigger distress or other harms. Undertaking sexual health research with people with serious mental illness is important, and this study demonstrated that it is feasible, safe and acceptable to participants.
NIHR HTA funding for a full randomised controlled trial, moreRESPECT was granted in July 2023: MoreRESPECT: A Randomised controlled trial of a sexual health promotion intervention for people with severe mental illness delivered in community mental health settings
York Trials Unit project page for moreRESPECT A Randomised controlled trial of a sexual health promotion intervention for people with severe mental illness delivered in community mental health settings.
Hughes, E., Mitchell, N., Gascoyne, S. et al. The RESPECT study: a feasibility randomised controlled trial of a sexual health promotion intervention for people with serious mental illness in community mental health services in the UK. BMC Public Health 20, 1736 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09661-x
Privacy Notice: How we use your research data
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
School of Healthcare, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Centre for Applied Research in Health, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, England
Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, England
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, USA
Experts by experience, England
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, England
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, England
School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex, Colchester, England
The research was commissioned by NIHR HTA programme (Award ID: 14/172/01). The project was started on 1 February 2016 and completed on 31st January 2018.
ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN15747739 prospectively registered 5th July 2016.