Thirty-one women with disabilities that resulted in functional impairments were interviewed. Theoretical sampling was used to assure that the individuals selected represented key variables thought to affect sexuality, such as type of disability, age at onset of disability, ethnicity, and marital status. Results of this study indicate a strong influence of characteristics of medical systems and practitioners on the knowledge, beliefs, and experiences of women with physical disabilities as they strive to maintain their reproductive health. An analytic model is proposed that presents disability status as having a strong influence on the internal factors that lead to reproductive health maintenance behaviors, such as knowledge, beliefs, psychological factors, and medical experiences. While disability itself does not have a direct effect on environmental factors, such as medical systems and professionals, it conditions the way in which medical systems and professionals respond to women.
Environmental factors influence internal factors.
Both, in turn, affect reproductive health maintenance.