Health professionals can do more to provide survivors of ovarian cancer with adequate information and support for ongoing sexual function.
Ovarian cancer is the 10th most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women. Just 48 per cent of women diagnosed between 2013 and 2017 survived for five years beyond their diagnosis. Treatment involves surgery and chemotherapy, which can cause menopause.
Sexual function is impacted beyond initial treatment and into survivorship for many of these women. However, research conducted at the Women’s suggests that the information and advice women want on the topic may not be readily provided by health professionals.
The research involved 98 women, with an average age of 52.8 years and at an average of five and a half years post diagnosis. About 22 per cent of these women reported that health professionals had discussed the impact of ovarian cancer on their sexuality. Of these, 46 per cent were satisfied with those discussions.
Lead Researcher Associate Professor Lesley Stafford said 52 per cent of the women wanted to discuss sexuality concerns with a health professional during treatment and 43 per cent still felt the need for this discussion.
“The women were recruited nationwide via social media, print advertisement and the database of a support organisation, Ovarian Cancer Australia,” A/Professor Stafford said.
"We explored the psychological and sexual wellbeing of this sample of Australian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, to inform the development of effective, targeted sexuality resources.”
Open-ended responses revealed the need for more information that was detailed and specified what to expect post-diagnosis. Shortcomings of health professionals in addressing sexuality were also revealed by the study.
“This research provides further evidence that sexual health remains inadequately addressed in ovarian cancer care for most women and is an area of unmet need.”
This research was published in Supportive Care in Cancer.