Outcomes of a 3-Year Quality Improvement Study to Improve Advance Care Planning in Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis.

INTRODUCTION: To report outcomes of a 3-year quality improvement pilot study to improve advance directive (AD) completion. METHODS: The pilot consisted of champions, education, electronic health record templates, and workflow changes. We assessed changes, predictors, and effects of AD completion. RESULTS: The pilot led to greater (8.3%-36%) and earlier AD completion, particularly among those divorced, with alcohol-associated liver disease, and with higher Model of End-Stage Liver Disease-Sodium score. Decedents whose AD specified nonaggressive goals experienced lower hospital lengths of stay. DISCUSSION: Advance care planning initiatives are feasible and may reduce health care utilization among decedents requesting less aggressive care.

Predictive Algorithm for Hepatic Steatosis Detection Using Elastography Data in the Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Records.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has reached pandemic proportions. Early detection can identify at-risk patients who can be linked to hepatology care. The vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) is biopsy validated to diagnose hepatic steatosis (HS). We aimed to develop a novel clinical predictive algorithm for HS using the CAP score at a Veterans' Affairs hospital. METHODS: We identified 403 patients in the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System with valid VCTEs during 1/2018-6/2020. Patients with alcohol-associated liver disease, genotype 3 hepatitis C, any malignancies, or liver transplantation were excluded. Linear regression was used to identify predictors of NAFLD. To identify a CAP threshold for HS detection, receiver operating characteristic analysis was applied using liver biopsy, MRI, and ultrasound as the gold standards. RESULTS: The cohort was racially/ethnically diverse (26% Black/African American; 20% Hispanic). Significant positive predictors of elevated CAP score included diabetes, cholesterol, triglycerides, BMI, and self-identifying as Hispanic. Our predictions of CAP scores using this model strongly correlated (r = 0.61, p < 0.001) with actual CAP scores. The NAFLD model was validated in an independent Veteran cohort and yielded a sensitivity of 82% and specificity 83% (p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.46-0.81%). The estimated optimal CAP for our population cut-off was 273.5 dB/m, resulting in AUC = 75.5% (95% CI 70.7-80.3%). CONCLUSION: Our HS predictive algorithm can identify at-risk Veterans for NAFLD to further risk stratify them by non-invasive tests and link them to sub-specialty care. Given the biased referral pattern for VCTEs, future work will need to address its applicability in non-specialty clinics. Proposed clinical algorithm to identify patients at-risk for NAFLD prior to fibrosis staging in Veteran.

Development of an international sexual and reproductive health survey instrument: results from a pilot WHO/HRP consultative Delphi process.

Population health surveys are rarely comprehensive in addressing sexual health, and population-representative surveys often lack standardised measures for collecting comparable data across countries. We present a sexual health survey instrument and implementation considerations for population-level sexual health research. The brief, comprehensive sexual health survey and consensus statement was developed via a multi-step process (an open call, a hackathon, and a modified Delphi process). The survey items, domains, entire instruments, and implementation considerations to develop a sexual health survey were solicited via a global crowdsourcing open call. The open call received 175 contributions from 49 countries. Following review of submissions from the open call, 18 finalists and eight facilitators with expertise in sexual health research, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), were invited to a 3-day hackathon to harmonise a survey instrument. Consensus was achieved through an iterative, modified Delphi process that included three rounds of online surveys. The entire process resulted in a 19-item consensus statement and a brief sexual health survey instrument. This is the first global consensus on a sexual and reproductive health survey instrument that can be used to generate cross-national comparative data in both high-income and LMICs. The inclusive process identified priority domains for improvement and can inform the design of sexual and reproductive health programs and contextually relevant data for comparable research across countries.

Sex film viewing, but not hypersexual concerns, are associated with more sexual arousal in anticipation of an intimate partner experience.

BACKGROUND: Hypersexual behaviours could reflect psychopathology, in part, because they impair interactions with intimate partners. METHODS: Hypersexual concerns were measured as: (1) concern about inability to control one's own sexual behaviours; and (2) sexual films viewed. The outcome, sexual arousal, was measured using two indicators: (1) self-reported sexual arousal (before/after); and (2) skin conductance response from the person stimulated (continuously). Two-hundred and fifty participants completed Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a coupled, structured, 15-min manual-genital stroking. RESULTS: Reported difficulty controlling their own sexual behaviours was not related to sexual arousal reports. Participants who viewed more sexual films reported more sexual arousal before starting OM than participants who viewed less sexual films. Strokers who viewed more sexual films were associated with a higher skin conductance response in the stroked partner. CONCLUSIONS: Despite statistical power and pre-registration, hypersexual concerns did not predict sexual responses with a partner. Sex film viewing may increase sexual responsiveness in individuals and their partners.

Sexual Responsivity and the Effects of Negative Mood on Sexual Arousal in Hypersexual Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM).

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have found that hypersexuality is associated with a high propensity for sexual excitation. In comparison, less is known about the relationship between hypersexuality and sexual arousal at the state level. Also, previous research has revealed a relationship between hypersexuality and negative mood. However, the possibility that sexual response might not be as negatively impacted by negative mood in hypersexual individuals has, as yet, not been tested. AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate sexual responsivity and the effects of negative mood on sexual arousal in hypersexual men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS: A total of 211 MSM were assigned to a hypersexuality (N = 81) or a control (N = 130) group using an interview patterned with a semi-structured Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders format. Participants filled out questionnaires and were shown neutral, sexual, and anxiety- and sadness-inducing films. OUTCOMES: Changes in penile circumference and self-reported sexual arousal were the primary outcomes analyzed in this study. RESULTS: Controlling for age and HIV status, no differences were found in genital response between hypersexual and non-hypersexual men. Also, the 2 groups did not differ in subjective sexual arousal. Moreover, no effects of negative mood were found. Time series clustering analyses revealed 3 groups-low responders and slow and fast high responders. Sexual excitation, but not sexual compulsivity or pornography use, predicted cluster membership. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: Hypersexual MSM may benefit more from an exploration of motivational and behavioral, as compared to psychophysiological, mechanisms underlying possible links between (negative) mood and sexual behavior. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: Strengths of the study include its sample size, making it one of the larger psychophysiological sex studies; the use of clinical interviews for group assignment; the inclusion of genital response measures; and the application of time series clustering to examine differences among participants. Limitations include possible sample heterogeneity and the reliance on researcher-selected stimuli. CONCLUSION: Given the lack of any effects of negative mood on sexual response in hypersexual MSM, future studies could explore in more depth possible motivational and behavioral effects, including, for example, the impact of negative mood on the tendency to seek out sex as a form of distraction or for validation or emotional support. Janssen E, Prause N, Romine RS, et al. Sexual Responsivity and the Effects of Negative Mood on Sexual Arousal in Hypersexual Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM). J Sex Med 2020;17:1751-1760.

Functional significance of subjective response to alcohol across levels of alcohol exposure.

Pre-clinical neurobiological models of addiction etiology including both the allostatic model and incentive sensitization theory suggest that alcohol consumption among alcohol-dependent (AD) individuals will be dissociated from hedonic reward as positive reinforcement mechanisms wane in later stage dependence. The aims of this study are to test this claim in humans by examining the relationship between dimensions of subjective responses to alcohol (SR) and alcohol craving across levels of alcohol exposure. Non-treatment-seeking drinkers (n = 205) completed an i.v. alcohol challenge (final target breath alcohol concentration = 0.06 g/dl) and reported on SR and craving. Participants were classified as light-to-moderate drinkers (LMD), heavy drinkers (HD) or AD. Analyses examined group differences in SR and craving response magnitude, as well as concurrent and predictive associations between SR domains and craving. At baseline, LMD and AD reported greater stimulation than HD, which carried over post-alcohol administration. However, stimulation was dose-dependently associated with alcohol craving in HD only. Furthermore, lagged models found that stimulation preceded craving among HD only, whereas this hypothesized pattern of results was not observed for craving preceding stimulation. Sedation was also positively associated with craving, yet no group differences were observed. In agreement with the prediction of diminished positive reinforcement in alcohol dependence, this study showed that stimulation/hedonic reward from alcohol did not precede craving in AD, whereas stimulation was dose-dependently associated with and preceded craving among non-dependent HD.

Clitorally Stimulated Orgasms Are Associated With Better Control of Sexual Desire, and Not Associated With Depression or Anxiety, Compared With Vaginally Stimulated Orgasms.

INTRODUCTION: Most women report that clitoral stimulation is an integral aspect of their orgasm experience. Thus, recent claims that vaginal stimulation and vaginally generated orgasms are superior to clitoral stimulation and clitorally generated orgasms pathologize most women and maintain a clitoral vs vaginal dichotomy that might not accurately reflect the complexity of women's sexual experience. AIM: To have women report on their experienced source of orgasm, including combinations of vaginal and clitoral stimulation, the solo or partnered context of the stimulation, and the intensity of the orgasms from different sources and to predict indicators of mental health and sexual health using the orgasm source. METHODS: Eighty-eight women 18 to 53 years old answered detailed questions about their usual and recent orgasm experiences, sexual history, depression, and anxiety. Then, they viewed a series of neutral and sexual films. They were instructed to increase or decrease their sexual arousal or respond "as usual" to the sexual films. They reported their sexual arousal after each film. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes assessed included mental health (depression and anxiety) and sexual health (orgasm quality, ability to regulate sexual response to sex films). Reported sexual arousal was analyzed for the regulation task. RESULTS: Most women (64%) reported that clitoral and vaginal stimulation contributed to their usual method of reaching orgasm. Women who reported that clitoral stimulation was primarily responsible for their orgasm reported a higher desire to self-stimulate and demonstrated greater control over their self-reported sexual arousal. The primary stimulation site for orgasm was unrelated to measurements of depression or anxiety despite sufficient statistical power. CONCLUSION: Most women reported that clitoral and vaginal stimulation is important in orgasm. Women experience orgasms in many varied patterns, a complexity that is often ignored by current methods of assessing orgasm source. The reported source of orgasm was unrelated to orgasm intensity, overall sex-life satisfaction, sexual distress, depression, or anxiety. Women who reported primarily stimulating their clitoris to reach orgasm reported higher trait sexual drive and higher sexual arousal to visual sexual stimulation and were better able to increase their sexual arousal to visual sexual stimulation when instructed than women who reported orgasms primarily from vaginal sources.

Sexual desire, not hypersexuality, predicts self-regulation of sexual arousal.

A person's ability to control their own sexual arousal is important both to reduce the risks associated with some sexual behaviours and to respond sexually with intimate partners. A lack of control over sexual urges is a proposed feature of "hypersexual disorder", though some evidence suggests that sexual desire predicts the self-regulation of sexual arousal better than hypersexuality. In the current study, a sample (N = 116) of men and women recruited from community ads viewed a series of 20-second neutral and sexual films. Before each sexual film, participants were instructed to increase their sexual arousal, decrease their sexual arousal or respond as usual. Higher levels of desire for sex with a partner consistently predicted failures to downregulate sexual arousal. Hypersexuality was unrelated. These findings replicate Winters et al.'s study and extend their findings by including upregulation, women, a new measure of hypersexuality and a higher-trial design.

Biases for affective versus sexual content in multidimensional scaling analysis: an individual difference perspective.

Visual sexual stimuli can motivate sexual behaviors that can risk or enhance health. How one allocates attention to a sexually motivating stimulus may be important for predicting its effect on sexual feelings, sexual risk behaviors, and sexual problems. A large sample (N = 157) of men and women rated the similarity of all possible pairs of photographs of women, which had been pretested to vary in their sexual and affective content. Multidimensional scaling was used to extract two dimensions of sex and affect, including the extent to which each person relied on each dimension in making their similarity judgments. These individual weights were then used to predict sexual variables of interest. Participants who relied more on the affect information judging photograph similarity were more likely to be female, viewed erotica less frequently, reported fewer sexual partners, reported less sexual desire, and more sexual problems. Those who relied more on the erotic content in making their similarity judgments were more likely to be male, viewed more erotica weekly, experienced higher sexual desire, and were more likely to have taken an HIV test. The "double edge sword" of attention weight to affect in sexual cues is discussed for its potential to both enhance and harm sexual health.

Instructions to rate genital vasocongestion increases genital and self-reported sexual arousal but not coherence between genital and self-reported sexual arousal.

INTRODUCTION: Women are often reported to have a low coherence (often referred to as "discordance" in sexuality literature) between their genital response and self-reported sexual arousal. AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine whether differing instructions for rating sexual arousal would increase the coherence between genital response and self-reported arousal in women. METHODS: Genital responses were recorded, using vaginal photoplethysmography, from 32 young women while they fantasized in three different conditions. Conditions instructed women to rate their overall sexual arousal, any physical cues, and genital blood flow. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was the coherence of vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) and reported sexual response in the three conditions. RESULTS: Unexpectedly, both VPA response and self-reported sexual arousal were higher when women were asked to rate their genital blood flow. Examining only participants who reported at least some sexual arousal in all conditions (n = 17), coherence was highest when women were instructed to rate overall sexual arousal. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that focusing on genital blood flow during sexual fantasy may increase women's (self-reported and genital) sexual response. Focusing on any physical arousal cues during sexual fantasy was associated with lower coherence of women's genital response and self-reported arousal compared with when they were instructed to rate their overall sexual arousal.

Erotica viewing effects on intimate relationships and self/partner evaluations.

Viewing visual sexual stimuli (VSS) has been documented to have both positive (e.g., increased sexual arousal and sexual behaviors) and negative (e.g., higher anxiety, devaluing of partner attractiveness) effects. Excitation transfer and social comparison theories were used to generate hypotheses that could explain these mixed findings. Forty-four monogamous, heterosexual couples viewed erotic, exciting (non-erotic films), and nature films both alone and together. They rated their feelings of general arousal and relationship satisfaction as well as perceptions of self and partner sexual behaviors and attractiveness. Participants viewing both the erotic and exciting films reported equivalent increases in excitement; however, the erotic film was rated as slightly more generally arousing and increased participant's desire to be close to their partner. Viewing the erotic films also induced greater reports of negative affect, guilt, and anxiety. These findings moderately support a transfer of excitation interpretation. No effects of partner presence or absence while viewing the films was found. Viewing erotic films led to more positive evaluations of one's own sexual behaviors. These findings provide mixed support in regard to self and partner social comparisons. Co-occurring positive and negative emotional reactions were explored as possible explanation to the complex reactions to VSS.

Online ejaculation training programs promote non-evidence-based treatment of male sexual dysfunction.

Purposefully reducing the frequency of ejaculation, coined "semen retention", and the similar practice of "NoFap", have been popularized on social media. They are frequently accompanied by unsubstantiated claims of health benefits. Their increasing popularity has led to the emergence of online courses claiming to teach these techniques. The goal was to characterize the landscape of courses offering ejaculatory training. A systematic Google search was performed using terms related to ejaculation training to identify training programs. Information regarding instructor credentialing, type and duration of courses, costs, and claims of medical benefits were extracted. Eleven ejaculation training courses were identified with 10 instructors (two courses named the same coach). Costs varied from $5 to $147 per week or a $20 to $199 one-time payment. None of the course instructors claimed standardized credentials in the fields of medicine or mental health. Seven instructors (70%) solely cited their own personal experience as their qualifying credentials. Courses claimed to improve erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, porn addiction, sexual performance anxiety, testosterone levels, and/or depression. Ejaculation training programs are costly, readily available online, and provided by instructors with no medical background. Despite no scientific evidence, these courses claim to improve various aspects of men's health and can be potentially damaging financially, physically, and mentally to participants.

Effects of individual differences on the efficacy of different distracters during visual sexual stimulation in women.

Distractions from sexual cues have been shown to decrease the sexual response, but it is unclear how distracters decrease sexual response. Individual differences may modulate the efficacy of distracters. Forty women viewed three sexual films while their labial temperature and continuous self-reported sexual arousal were monitored. One sexual film had simultaneous verbal distracters concerning dissatisfaction with one's physical appearance (higher salience distracter), a second had distracters concerning daily chores (lower salience distracter), and the third sexual film had no distracters. Participant's reporting greater relationship satisfaction and more communication with their partner about their own physical appearance were expected to decrease the efficacy (increased sexual arousal) of the distracters concerning physical appearance. Contrary to expectations, women who received less feedback about their body from their partners reported less sexual arousal during a sexual film with body distracters than a sexual film with general distracters or a sexual film with no distracters. All women exhibited lower labial temperature in Minutes 2 and 3 of the sexual film with body image distracters as compared to the other two sexual films. Possible explanations explored include self-verification theory and individual differences in the indicators that women consider when rating their sexual arousal.

Facets of perfectionism in a sample of hypersexual patients.

This study investigated the role of perfectionism in a treatment-seeking sample (N = 136) of adult men and women using the Perfectionism Inventory (PI) and the Hypersexual Behavior Inventory (HBI). Several facets of perfectionism were positively correlated with hypersexuality, with the concern over mistakes scale from the PI accounting for most of the predictive variance in patterns of hypersexual behavior measured by the HBI. Items associated with concern over mistakes closely parallel the construct of shame noted in other studies of hypersexual patients. To a lesser degree, the PI scale planfulness also showed a negative relationship with hypersexuality, suggesting tendencies of impulsivity in the current patients. These data reinforce the findings in other studies that patterns of harsh self-criticism and impulsivity seem to strongly influence hypersexual behavior.

Intense positive affect without arousal is possible: Subjective and physiological reactivity during a partnered sexual meditative experience.

Though common models suggest that affect intensity can be thought of as orthogonal to arousal, examples of intensely pleasant low arousal stimuli remain rare. To support this orthogonal model, we examined whether a specific meditative sexual practice, Orgasmic Meditation (OM), induces such a state. Thus, this study measured changes in subjective affect as well as skin conductance responses (SCR), as a proxy for physiological arousal associated with sympathetic nervous system activity, during a single 15-minute partnered sexual meditative practice (Orgasmic Meditation; OM) in 93 participants. Almost all participants experienced sustained positive affect during the task. Whereas seconds after OM start approximately half the participants experienced sustained increased SCR, the other half experienced sustained decreased SCR. This observation suggests that the experience of sustained positive affect in intimate interactions may be associated with multiple mechanistic profiles including both decreased and increased arousal.

The effects of acute ethanol consumption on sexual response and sexual risk-taking intent.

Two theories of sexual risk taking (disinhibition and alcohol myopia) were tested using genital measures of sexual response and computer measures of sexual risk propensity. A total of 44 men and women completed two sessions comparing responses to erotic films while consuming alcohol (breath alcohol doses were .025 g/kg and .08 g/kg) or juice alone. After consuming alcohol, more sexual arousal was reported in response to neutral films and at a breath alcohol level of .08 g/kg as compared to no alcohol. Genital responses for men and women increased during sexual films, but men did not respond as strongly when breath alcohol level was .08 g/kg. Intentions to have intercourse with a new partner at baseline predicted the level of sexual arousal reported. As self-reported sexual arousal increased in response to sexual films and higher alcohol dose, the intent to engage in intercourse with a new partner increased. Alcohol dose was not related to later sexual intercourse intentions. With no direct relationship of alcohol and intercourse intentions, results appear more consistent with a disinhibition model of sexual arousal.

Partner intimate touch is associated with increased interpersonal closeness, especially in non-romantic partners.

Relationship closeness promotes desirable health outcomes. Most interventions to increase relationship closeness are verbal, which may not suit all couples. We consider whether Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a structured, partnered, largely non-verbal practice that includes genital touch, also increases relationship closeness. We hypothesized that OM would increase feelings of closeness for both romantic and non-romantic partners. This is important, because intimate touch with non-romantic partners is commonly considered deleterious by clinicians, which may inadvertently increase feelings of shame. Dyads (n = 125) reported their feelings of closeness before and after OM. Approximately half of the participants were romantic partners, while the other half only engaged in OM together (non-romantic). Closeness after OM increased on average across participants. Non-romantic dyads increased self-other overlap more than romantic dyads. These data support that a partnered, largely non-verbal practice is associated with increased feelings of closeness in the moment, including for individuals who are not in a romantic relationship.