Most women with breast cancer reported adverse sexual health effects from treatment, but many reported that their oncologists paid less attention to discussing these effects during their consultations. .

Findings published in Chronicle of surgical oncology, suggesting that women prefer diverse strategies over education. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach and multiple options for different breast cancer patient populations tailored to life stage and sexual needs.

Background and method

“We have collected patient-reported outcomes studies of breast cancer patients since 2019 and of the four quality-of-life domains we measure, sexual well-being at first sight in women with breast cancer is I noticed that it was the lowest.” Sara TevisMD, An assistant professor of surgical oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine told Helio. “Sexual well-being declines further as patients undergo treatment. Therefore, we decided to conduct this mixed method study.”

Sarah Tevis

Tevis and colleagues sought to characterize the education breast cancer patients received about the potential sexual health effects of treatment.

The study included 87 patients with stage 0 to stage IV breast cancer (44.8% aged 45 to 65 years, 82.8% Caucasian) treated at a university breast center in December 2020. . process.

Sixteen women participated in additional semi-structured individual interviews (n = 3) or focus group discussions (n ​​= 13). This discussion included questions about sexual health education provided by the oncology care team and patient preferences regarding content, format, and timing of educational delivery.

Main findings

Researchers found that 93% of women reported at least one symptom affecting their sexual health. The most common symptoms included decreased sexual desire during or after treatment (69%), vaginal dryness (63%), and decreased energy for sexual activity (62%). I was.

Additionally, 75% of women reported that their sexual health symptoms affected their mental health and relationship with their partner.

Of the 16 patients who participated in the additional interview process, few reported receiving information about the potential sexual effects of treatment, but those who did did report menopausal symptoms or infertility. It focused on symptoms and sexual function.

“Women sought sexual health resources early and during treatment, specifically information on mitigation strategies, sexual function, dating and partner intimacy, and changes in body image.” Tevis said.

implication

Patients in the focus groups would be suboptimal and overwhelmed with discussions about their sexual health at the time of initial diagnosis, when treatment plans are being developed, Tevis said. She said she hopes it will be discussed early and often during treatment.

“After the initial visit, there is no specific time point or person to follow up on sexual health, etc. We know from the literature that women are less likely to bring up the topic of sexual health themselves.” “Sexual health should be part of any survival plan, but it’s important to address it early in treatment.”

Tevis said he is working with patients to develop an educational video series.

“We plan to tell patients about the video at diagnosis and remind them of the video during treatment,” she said. We hope to empower patients to initiate these conversations with their health care teams, as well as provide them with the education they need to be able to focus on.”

For more information:

Sarah Tevis, M.D., You can contact me at sarah.tevis@cuanschutz.edu.