Introduction: Little is known regarding the impact of a sexual health program on the sexual functioning of patients with a history of a gynecologic malignancy.
Aim: To evaluate as a pilot study the prevalence of common sexual health symptoms and evaluate the effects and compliance with clinical recommendations in gynecologic oncology patients.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 259 female cancer patients who attended a survivorship program at an academic medical center from March 1, 2003 through December 31, 2004. Patients received symptomatic treatment recommendations including hormone therapy alternatives, psychosexual counseling, minimally absorbed vaginal estrogen suppositories, and vaginal dilators.
Main outcome measures: Patient self-report of the severity of sexual symptomology at follow-up visit.
Results: Ninety-six patients (37%) had gynecologic neoplasms and the most common gynecologic malignancy seen was ovarian (27%). Median age at initial visit was 51 years (range 25-76) and 88 patients (92%) were postmenopausal. The most frequent presenting complaint encountered was dyspareunia (72%), atrophic vaginitis (65%), hypoactive desire (43%), and orgasmic dysfunction (17%). At a median of 6 months (range 0-20), 60 patients (63%) received follow-up, and of them 42 (70%) self-reported improvement in their symptoms.
Conclusions: The establishment of a well-structured sexual health program in a cancer setting can result in a 63% compliance rate with a 70% subjective improvement in sexual health complaints. Further research with objective measures of sexual dysfunction is needed to better evaluate patients' progress in this setting.