Table 3.
Communication With Oncology Providers and Satisfaction With Sex Life Overall and by Cancer Site, Sex, and Age
| Item | No. (%) | Age, Mean ± SD, y |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (N = 819) |
Breast (n = 252) |
Prostate (n = 146) |
Lung (n = 56) |
Colorectal (n = 98) |
Other (n = 174) |
Men (n = 243)a |
Women (n = 149)a |
||
| Have you ever received information from an oncology doctor or nurse about how cancer or cancer treatments may affect your sex life? | |||||||||
| Yes | 365 (45) | 82 (33) | 117 (80) | 12 (21) | 40 (41) | 59 (34) | 119 (49) | 35 (23) | 57.6 ± 11.1 |
| No | 369 (45) | 137 (54) | 22 (15) | 35 (63) | 54 (55) | 90 (52) | 104 (43) | 93 (62) | 60.0 ± 12.2 |
| Don’t remember | 85 (11) | 33 (13) | 7 (5) | 9 (16) | 4 (4) | 25 (14) | 20 (8) | 21 (14) | 56.5 ± 12.7 |
| How satisfied were you with the amount of information you received? | |||||||||
| Not at all | 8 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 1 (8) | 1 (3) | 1 (2) | 3 (3) | 0 | 55.5 ± 9.4 |
| A little bit | 27 (7) | 9 (11) | 8 (7) | 0 (0) | 2 (5) | 4 (7) | 7 (6) | 2 (6) | 55.3 ± 12.3 |
| Somewhat | 95 (26) | 21 (26) | 26 (22) | 5 (42) | 6 (15) | 19 (32) | 33 (28) | 11 (31) | 55.0 ± 11.7 |
| Quite a bit | 110 (30) | 17 (21) | 39 (33) | 3 (25) | 17 (43) | 19 (32) | 38 (32) | 12 (34) | 57.3 ± 10.8 |
| Very | 125 (34) | 33 (40) | 42 (36) | 3 (25) | 14 (35) | 16 (27) | 38 (32) | 10 (29) | 60.4 ± 10.2 |
| Have you ever asked an oncology doctor or nurse about problems with your sex life? | |||||||||
| Yes | 237 (29) | 58 (23) | 87 (60) | 6 (11) | 26 (27) | 29 (17) | 68 (28) | 17 (11) | 58.3 ± 10.2 |
| No | 569 (69) | 192 (76) | 58 (40) | 48 (86) | 71 (72) | 139 (80) | 169 (70) | 129 (87) | 58.7 ± 12.5 |
| Don’t remember | 13 (2) | 2 (1) | 1 (< 1) | 2 (4) | 1 (1) | 6 (3) | 6 (2) | 3 (2) | 59.2 ± 12.4 |
| Why haven’t you ever asked an oncology doctor of nurse about problems with your sex life? (Please select all that apply.) | |||||||||
| Haven’t had any questions | 333 (59) | 115 (60) | 28(48) | 29 (60) | 43 (61) | 81 (58) | 91 (54) | 86 (67) | 59.1 ± 12.5 |
| My problems with my sex life were not bad enough | 121 (21) | 37 (19) | 11 (19) | 12 (25) | 18 (26) | 29 (21) | 40 (24) | 28 (22) | 56.9 ± 13.5 |
| My doctor or nurse seemed too busy | 14 (2) | 5 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (4) | 0 | 4 (3) | 1 (< 1) | 5 (4) | 55.8 ± 10.5 |
| I felt too shy or embarrassed | 50 (9) | 21 (11) | 5 (9) | 0 | 3 (4) | 18 (13) | 11 (7) | 11 (9) | 52.9 ± 12.2 |
| I felt uncomfortable because my doctor or nurse was a man | 11 (2) | 5 (3) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1(1) | 3 (2) | 0 | 5 (4) | 56.2 ± 8.7 |
| I felt uncomfortable because my doctor or nurse was a woman | 5 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 (1) | 1 (< 1) | 2 ( 1) | 0 | 60.6 ± 8.9 |
| I felt uncomfortable because my doctor or nurse was too young or too old | 1 (< 1) | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.0 ± 0 |
| I felt uncomfortable because my doctor or nurse was too different from me | 2 (< 1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 1 (< 1) | 0 | 48.0 ± 9.9 |
| Some other reason | 122 (21) | 40 (21) | 15 (26) | 10 (21) | 15 (21) | 27 (19) | 38 (23) | 21 (16) | 59.9 ± 11.5 |
| How important is it to you that your doctor or nurse discusses how your cancer or cancer treatments may affect your sex life? | |||||||||
| Not at all | 177 (22) | 62 (25) | 8 (5) | 13 (23) | 26 (27) | 46 (26) | 41 (17) | 60 (40) | 63.7 ± 12.2 |
| A little bit | 102 (12) | 32 (13) | 6 (4) | 13 (23) | 15 (15) | 27 (16) | 30 (12) | 31 (21) | 55.8 ± 13.5 |
| Somewhat | 175 (21) | 72 (29) | 15 (10) | 18 (32) | 17 (17) | 37 (20) | 59 (24) | 23 (15) | 56.5 ± 11.4 |
| Quite a bit | 144 (18) | 37 (15) | 37 (25) | 9 (16) | 15 (15) | 35 (20) | 45 (19) | 15 (10) | 56.3 ± 11.1 |
| Very | 221 (27) | 49 (19) | 80 (55) | 3 (5) | 25 (26) | 29 (17) | 68 (28) | 20 (13) | 58.8 ± 10.2 |
| How much would it help if your doctor talked to your spouse or partner about how your health is affecting your sex life? | |||||||||
| No spouse or partner | 90 (11) | 33 (13) | 7 (5) | 9 (16) | 9 (9) | 19 (11) | 19 ( 8) | 27 (18) | 61.7 ± 14.0 |
| Not at all | 201 (25) | 61 (24) | 28 (19) | 19 (34) | 23 (23) | 46 (26) | 60 (25) | 47 (31) | 62.3 ± 10.6 |
| A little bit | 94 (11) | 28 (11) | 11 (8) | 13 (23) | 11 (11) | 20 (11) | 37 (15) | 15 (10) | 56.6 ± 11.5 |
| Somewhat | 178 (22) | 55 (22) | 31 (21) | 9 (16) | 28 (29) | 38 (22) | 56 (23) | 27 (18) | 56.9 ± 11.8 |
| Quite a bit | 138 (17) | 43 (17) | 32 (22) | 4 (7) | 15 (15) | 31 (18) | 37 (15) | 21 (14) | 55.7 ± 11.3 |
| Very | 118 (14) | 32 (13) | 37 (25) | 2 (4) | 12 (12) | 20 (11) | 34 (14) | 12 ( 8) | 57.0 ± 11.0 |
a
Excluding sex-specific cancers such as breast, prostate, and gynecological cancers.