Article Text
Abstract
Introduction/Background Gynecologic cancers greatly affect a woman’s sexuality, sexual functioning, intimate relationships, and sense of self. Twenty-three to seventy percent of cervical cancer survivors report problems with their sexual functioning. However, little is known about how sexual dysfunction affect their quality of life since many of them report psychosexual healthcare needs, but only one-third seek professional help. Evaluating their female sexual function will help identify the presence of sexual dysfunction among cervical cancer survivors, provide appropriate intervention and improve their quality of life.
Methodology The study used a prospective, cross-sectional survey design that employed a self-administered questionnaire using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to identify the presence of sexual dysfunction among cervical cancer patients in a tertiary medical center from June to December 2019. Descriptive statistics were reported to describe the distribution of patients in terms of the different numerical variables, whereas frequency and simple percentage were used to determine the distribution of respondents in terms of the different categorical variables.
Results Forty-two cervical cancer patients were assessed. The mean age of the studied population was 44.85. More than half was married (59.52%), and majority was from Cebu City (66.78%). Approximately 43% (42.86%) finished college and were mostly catholics (69.05%). The mean age of diagnosis was 42.85, with an average gravidity and parity of 1. Most of the patients interviewed were diagnosed with stage 3B cervical cancer (42.86%). The mean overall Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score of the studied population was 6.59, which indicated that all of the patients studied had female sexual dysfunction.
Conclusion All the cervical cancer patients included in this study had female sexual dysfunction as evidenced by the low FSFI scores in each of the 6 dimensions and low overall FSFI score.
Disclosures None.