Care for sexual health in oncology survey: discussions about sexual health with people with cancer in the context of the obligation to provide informed consent

Abstract

Purpose: the purpose of this paper is to describe the impacts of cancer treatment on sexual health in a sample of people who had been treated for mixed types of cancer; to describe discussions they had with professionals about sexual health that occurred during cancer care; and to consider the extent to which these discussions were sufficient to enable participants to give informed consent for the sexual side effect of cancer treatment. 

Method: a cross-sectional, online survey using a convenience sample of people with cancer was recruited via UK cancer charities. Eligibility criteria included having received treatment and follow-up care for any type of cancer in the UK during the previous 10 years. Univariate analysis was conducted using SPSS. Results: 136 people with cancer participated in this survey. The majority of participants reported having experienced a worsening of their sexual lives, which bothered them. Whilst 33.6% of the sample (n = 125) reported having discussed sexual health during their cancer care, only 5.4% reported that a healthcare professional initiated a pre-treatment discussion about the sexual side effects of cancer treatment. 

Conclusions: these results suggest that the proportion of participants who were provided with sufficient information to give informed consent for the sexual side effects of cancer treatment was very low. This indicates that healthcare professionals may require specific advice on how to include this topic during the informed consent process.

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