Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2017 Aug 30;17(1):599.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3580-2.

Self-reported sexual health: Breast cancer survivors compared to women from the general population - an observational study

Anne Oberguggenberger  1 , Caroline Martini  2 , Nathalie Huber  2 , Lesley Fallowfield  3 , Michael Hubalek  4 , Martin Daniaux  5 , Barbara Sperner-Unterweger  2 , Bernhard Holzner  2 , Monika Sztankay  2 , Eva Gamper  2 , Verena Meraner  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Self-reported sexual health: Breast cancer survivors compared to women from the general population - an observational study

Anne Oberguggenberger et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Cancer survivorship is of increasing importance in post-treatment care. Sexual health (SH) and femininity can be crucial issues for women surviving cancer. We aimed to determine a more complete understanding of the contribution that a breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and its treatment exert on patients' follow-up SH. For this purpose, self-reported levels and predictors of SH in breast cancer survivors (BCS) were compared with those of women with no previous or current BC (WNBC).

Methods: BCS and WNBC underwent a comprehensive, cross-sectional patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment. Validated PRO instruments were used to measure SH, body image, anxiety and depression and menopausal symptoms. Assessments were performed within the routine clinical setting. Instruments used were the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory - Female, Sexual Activity Questionnaire, Body Image Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire.

Results: One hundred five BCS (average time since diagnosis of 3 years) and 97 WNBC with a mean age of 49 years completed the assessment. SH was significantly worse in BCS compared to WNBC (p = 0.005; BCS SIDI-F mean = 24.9 vs. WNBC mean = 29.8). 68.8% of BCS and 58.8% of WNBC met criteria of a hypo-active sexual desire disorder. Higher depressive symptoms, higher age and lower partnership satisfaction were predictive for poorer SH in BCS.

Conclusion: SH problems are apparent in BCS and differ significantly from those seen in the general population. Consequently, BC survivorship care should include interventions to ameliorate sexual dysfunction and provide help with depressive symptoms and partnership problems, which are associated with poor BCS SH.

Keywords: Breast neoplasms; Self report; Sexuality; Survivorship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Ethics Committee of Medical University of Innsbruck approved the study (study number UN 5240, meeting number 329/4.21).

All participating patients provided written informed consent – patient consent form Version 2.0, 07.10.2013 and conent form for women with no breast cancer Version 1.0, 07.10.2013, approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Innsbruck.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
BCS selection and inclusion procedure
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
WNBC selection and inclusion procedure
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kohler BA, Sherman RL, Howlader N, Jemal A, Ryerson AB, Henry KA, Boscoe FP, Cronin KA, Lake A, Noone AM, et al. Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2011, featuring incidence of breast cancer subtypes by race/ethnicity, poverty, and state. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015;107(6):djv048. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djv048. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Group USCSW . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and national cancer institute. 2015. United States cancer statistics: 1999–2012 incidence and mortality web-based report.
    1. Fobair P, Stewart SL, Chang S, D’Onofrio C, Banks PJ, Bloom JR. Body image and sexual problems in young women with breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology. 2006;15(7):579–594. doi: 10.1002/pon.991. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ries F, Duhem C, Kleiber K, Dicato M. Phase I/II clinical trial of epirubicin and paclitaxel followed by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in a 2-week schedule in patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Semin Oncol. 1997;24(5 Suppl 17):S17-48–S17-51. - PubMed
    1. Bloom JR, Stewart SL, Chang S, Banks PJ. Then and now: quality of life of young breast cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology. 2004;13(3):147–160. doi: 10.1002/pon.794. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms