Shakiba Fatehi1,2, Raziyeh Maasoumi3,4, Giti Atashsokhan1, Azam Hamidzadeh1, Ghasem Janbabaei5, Seyed Mohammad Mirrezaie6. 1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. 2. Departments of Midwifery, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. 3. Department of Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4. Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5. Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. 6. Center for Health Related Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Shahroud, University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. mirrezaie@shmu.ac.ir.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Considering different dimensions of life, special sex life for survivors of breast cancer (BC) is important because their life expectancy has increased. OBJECTIVE: We designed this study to improve the sexual function, satisfaction and quality of sexual life. METHODS: In a randomized controlled clinical trial study, from a total 286 breast cancer survivors (BCS), 118 women enrolled to the study. After providing informed consent, the participants were randomly assigned either to the intervention group or to the waitlist control group. The intervention consisted of six weekly psychosexual counseling sessions that lasted from 90 to 120 min. Data were collected by the demographic and clinical forms, Beck Depression Inventory, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Larson Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire and sexual quality of life-female (SQOL-F) questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in control and intervention groups were 43.8 ± 6.6 and 44.84 ± 6.7, respectively. More than 65% of the patients in the both groups were either normal or showed a low level of depression. Sexual function (FSFI) scores and sexual quality of life (SQOL-F), showed a significant statistic differences after intervention (P < 0.001 in both tools). Sexual satisfaction (Larson) has showed improvement in some subclasses, however, change in total score was not statistically significant (P = 0.073). CONCLUSIONS: The psychosexual intervention program was effective in improving sexual function and quality of sexual life among BCS. This intervention has clinical significance as it provided an opportunity for the women to discuss their sexual issues.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Considering different dimensions of life, special sex life for survivors of breast cancer (BC) is important because their life expectancy has increased. OBJECTIVE: We designed this study to improve the sexual function, satisfaction and quality of sexual life. METHODS: In a randomized controlled clinical trial study, from a total 286 breast cancer survivors (BCS), 118 women enrolled to the study. After providing informed consent, the participants were randomly assigned either to the intervention group or to the waitlist control group. The intervention consisted of six weekly psychosexual counseling sessions that lasted from 90 to 120 min. Data were collected by the demographic and clinical forms, Beck Depression Inventory, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Larson Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire and sexual quality of life-female (SQOL-F) questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in control and intervention groups were 43.8 ± 6.6 and 44.84 ± 6.7, respectively. More than 65% of the patients in the both groups were either normal or showed a low level of depression. Sexual function (FSFI) scores and sexual quality of life (SQOL-F), showed a significant statistic differences after intervention (P < 0.001 in both tools). Sexual satisfaction (Larson) has showed improvement in some subclasses, however, change in total score was not statistically significant (P = 0.073). CONCLUSIONS: The psychosexual intervention program was effective in improving sexual function and quality of sexual life among BCS. This intervention has clinical significance as it provided an opportunity for the women to discuss their sexual issues.
Entities:
Keywords:
Breast cancer; Iran; Psychosexual counseling; Sexual quality of life
Authors: Zohreh Mohammadi; Raziyeh Maasoumi; Nafiseh Vosoughi; Tahereh Eftekhar; Mehdi Soleimani; Ali Montazeri Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2022-08-23 Impact factor: 3.359