Sexuality and body image in women after cancer: The efficacy of the Australian women's wellness after cancer program

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer diagnosis and treatment can have profound psychological, psychosocial and psychosexual effects on women. Health professionals are reluctant to discuss sexuality concerns with their patients with reasons for this being cited as lack of knowledge, embarrassment, or because the patient has not overtly expressed concern. Often by the time a patient realises there is cause for concern, treatment has finished, there is less contact with the health care team, and they are less able to access support in this area. This presentation examines the efficacy of a wholeof-lifestyle intervention on sexual health and body image in women after cancer treatment. Methods: The Women’s Wellness after Cancer program was a national randomised clinical trial of 351 women engaging in an ehealth-enabled lifestyle intervention that broadly aimed to improve the health and wellness of women after cancer. Moreover, this trial addresses existing gaps in supportive cancer care by embedding the topic of sexuality within a broader whole-of-lifestyle intervention. Results: In this study, many participants were sexually inactive. Of those who were sexually active, most reported sexual dysfunction (≤ 26.55 points) on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Body image scale (BIS), and health-related quality of life (measured by the FACT-G). Notably, women in the intervention group reported statistically significant improvements in mean scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention on the FSFI subscales and overall FSFI (p <.05). The intervention group also reported a significant improvement in body image, functional wellbeing, and overall quality of life scores overtime (p <.05). Conclusion: This study provides evidence that an e-enabled, whole-of-lifestyle intervention incorporating health professional support improves sexual wellbeing and body image after a cancer diagnosis and could help improve overall health-related quality of life. The findings of this study have implications for health promotion practice and health professional education in the cancer setting.