Evaluation of Sexual Function of Turkish Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Systemic Treatment

Adaptation of the Sexual Adjustment and Body Image Scale in Turkish Breast Cancer Women

PURPOSE

To investigate the validity and reliability of the Sexual Adjustment and Body Image Scale in Turkish breast cancer women.

METHODS

This is a methodological and cross-sectional study, and included 161 breast cancer women.

RESULTS

The factor loadings in the exploratory factor analysis ranged from 0.83 to 0.90 for the sexual adjustment scales and ranged from 0.52 to 0.86 for the body image scale. The Cronbach's alpha values were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.89 for the subscales of sexual adjustment and 0.77 and 0.81 for the subscales of body image.

CONCLUSION

The scale is a valid and reliable tool to evaluate sexual adjustment and body image in Turkish breast cancer women.

Menopausal symptoms, sexual function, depression, and quality of life in Korean patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to study the relationships among menopausal symptoms, sexual function, depression, and quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

METHODS

Two hundred women participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected with the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer (FACT-B). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and Pearson product moment correlations using SPSS v. 20.

RESULTS

Participants had alterations in menopausal symptoms and sexual function, and were depressed with a decreased quality of life. These factors are known to influence satisfaction with family support (p < 0.05) and sexual relationships (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses should provide education to women with breast cancer on their sexual issues and encourage them to attend family support programs. They should also encourage family members to be proactive in addressing menopausal and depressive symptoms in these women with a goal to enhance their sexual functioning and quality of life.

Sexuality after breast cancer: a review

It is widely recognised that women's sexuality can be particularly complex after breast cancer, with sexual changes often becoming the most problematic aspect of a woman's life. The impact of such changes can last for many years after successful treatment, and can be associated with serious physical and emotional side-effects. The objective of this paper is to review research on breast cancer and sexuality from the years 1998 to 2010. Research has documented a range of physical changes to a woman's sexuality following breast cancer, including disturbances to sexual functioning, as well as disruptions to sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, sexual desire, and sexual pleasure, resulting from chemotherapy, chemically induced menopause, tamoxifen, and breast cancer surgery. Women's intrapsychic experience of changes to sexuality includes a fear of loss of fertility, negative body image, feelings of sexual unattractiveness, loss of femininity, depression and anxiety, as well as alterations to a sense of sexual self. The discursive construction of femininity and sexuality shapes the way women construct and experience their illness and their body - leading many women to try to appear 'normal' to others post-breast surgery. Finally, the quality of a woman's partnered relationship consistently predicts sexual health post-breast cancer - reinforcing the importance of recognising the intersubjective nature of issues surrounding breast cancer and sexuality. It is concluded that analyses of sexuality in the context of breast cancer cannot conceptualise the physical body separately from women's intrapsychic negotiation, her social and relational context, and the discursive constructions of sexuality and femininity: a material-discursive-intrapsychic interaction.