Women's perception. Breast cancer treatment and sexuality

The authors describe women's perceptions of how their sexuality was affected by treatment for breast cancer. This description is part of a larger study that tested the psychometric properties of a sexuality measure.

This exploratory study analyzed 105 women's responses to one question that asked them to describe how their sexuality had changed since their breast cancer diagnosis. Two researchers independently used content analytic procedures to identify themes that emerged from the data.

Four themes emerged: Physical Sexual Functioning, Relationship Quality, Psychological Self, and Self as Female. Women who had reconstructive surgery indicated that the loss of feeling in the reconstructed breast was sexually troublesome and disappointing. Comparison of the qualitative data with quantitative data (triangulation) provided support for the finding of no significant differences in sexual functioning before women treated by lumpectomy versus mastectomy.

Breast cancer affects many aspects of a woman's sexuality, including changes in physical functioning and in perception of femaleness. Informed healthcare decisions cannot be made until patients are knowledgeable about the sexual outcomes of cancer therapies. Healthcare professionals must acknowledge the scope of the impact of cancer treatment on sexuality, include such information as part of the informed consent process, and provide appropriate education and referral.