Treatment-seeking, aspects of sexual activity and life satisfaction in men with laser-treated penile carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: The aims were to assess the initial symptoms of penile carcinoma and patients' time frame in treatment seeking, and to describe the effect of laser treatment on sexual activity and life satisfaction.

Patients and methods: A retrospective face-to-face structured interview study of patients laser treated for localised penile carcinoma at the department of Urology in Orebro, Sweden, during 1986 to 2000. Sixty-seven was treated and 58 of them (mean age, 63 yr; range, 34-90) were alive at the time of this study. Forty-six (79%) agreed to participate.

Results: Ninety-six percent of the patients recalled their first symptom of penile carcinoma. Superficial ulceration and fissures were the most common symptoms (39%). Thirty-seven percent delayed seeking treatment for more than 6 mo. The patients had a greater lifetime number of sexual partners and a greater lifetime prevalence of STIs than a Swedish representative comparator population. Some aspects of sexual life, such as manual stimulation/caressing and fellatio, decreased markedly after laser treatment. Patient satisfaction with life as a whole was approximately the same as that of the general population.

Conclusions: Patients delayed seeking treatment for a considerable period, despite awareness of the first local symptoms. Men with laser-treated localised penile carcinoma resume their sexual activities to a large extent after the treatment. Except for satisfaction with somatic health, similar-or even higher-proportions of patients than comparators are satisfied with life as a whole and with other domains of life including satisfaction with sexual life.