Table 1.
Characteristics of the total sample and the subgroups of sexually active and inactive breast cancer survivors
| Variables | Total sample n = 1307 |
Sexually active n = 627 |
Sexually inactive n = 680 |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-demographic variables | ||||
| Age at diagnosis (years), mean (SD) | 51.7 (8.6) | 50.0 (8.7) | 53.3 (8.2) | < 0.001 |
| Age at survey (years), mean (SD) | 59.7 (8.7) | 58.0 (8.8) | 61.3 (8.3) | < 0.001 |
| Living with spouse/partner, n (%) | 966 (74) | 555 (89) | 411 (60) | < 0.001 |
| Living with children < 18 years, n (%) | 199 (15) | 118 (19) | 81 (12) | 0.001 |
| Education > 12 years, n (%) | 671 (52) | 354 (57) | 317 (47) | 0.001 |
| Paid work at survey, n (%) | 545 (43) | 308 (50) | 237 (36) | < 0.001 |
| Cancer-related variables | ||||
| Stagea | 0.92 | |||
| I, n (%) | 583 (45) | 282 (45) | 301 (44) | |
| II, n (%) | 470 (36) | 228 (36) | 242 (36) | |
| III, n (%) | 105 (8) | 49 (8) | 56 (8) | |
| Missing | 149 | 68 | 81 | |
| Hormone receptor positive, n (%) | 1111 (85) | 523 (84) | 588 (87) | 0.12 |
| HER-2b positive, n (%) | 241 (18) | 117 (19) | 124 (18) | 0.98 |
| Triple negative, n (%) | 112 (9) | 60 (10) | 52 (8) | 0.22 |
| Surgery | 0.62 | |||
| Mastectomy, n (%) | 537 (41) | 262 (42) | 275 (40) | |
| Breast-conserving therapy, n (%) | 770 (59) | 365 (58) | 405 (60) | |
| Chemotherapy, n (%) | 895 (69) | 429 (68) | 466 (69) | 0.97 |
| Radiotherapy, n (%) | 1047 (80) | 504 (80) | 543 (80) | 0.81 |
| Endocrine treatment (ET) | < 0.001 | |||
| No ET, n (%) | 456 (35) | 227 (36) | 229 (34) | |
| Aromatase inhibitor, n (%) | 404 (31) | 159 (25) | 245 (36) | |
| Tamoxifen, n (%) | 378 (29) | 214 (34) | 164 (24) | |
| Unknown type, n (%) | 69 (5) | 27 (4) | 42(6) | |
| ET at present, n (%) | 295 (23) | 157 (25) | 138 (20) | 0.04 |
| Health variables | ||||
| Somatic comorbidity | < 0.001 | |||
| No condition, n (%) | 281 (22) | 166 (27) | 115 (17) | |
| 1–2 condition(s), n (%) | 706 (54) | 344 (55) | 362 (54) | |
| ≥ 3 conditions, n (%) | 313 (24) | 114 (18) | 199 (29) | |
| Missing | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| Sleep problems, n (%) | 571 (44) | 243 (39) | 328 (49) | < 0.001 |
| Painc, mean (SD) | 28.0 (29.3) | 24.4 (27.8) | 31.4 (30.2) | < 0.001 |
| Breast symptomsc, mean (SD) | 16.0 (19.0) | 14.3 (17.6) | 17.5 (20.0) | 0.002 |
| Body imagec, mean (SD) | 75.8 (26.2) | 79.0 (24.7) | 72.9 (27.2) | < 0.001 |
| Chronic fatigue, n (%) | 420 (33) | 177 (29) | 243 (37) | 0.002 |
| Obesityd, n (%) | 234 (18) | 91 (15) | 143 (22) | 0.001 |
| Physically inactive, n (%) | 693 (53) | 307 (49) | 386 (57) | < 0.001 |
| Anxiety disorder, n (%) | 94 (7) | 35 (6) | 59 (9) | 0.03 |
| Major depression, n (%) | 238 (19) | 87 (14) | 151 (23) | < 0.001 |
Bold statistically significant (p < 0.05)
SD standard deviation
aBased on TNM
bHER-2 = human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
cScale 0–100 (a higher score corresponds to more pain and breast symptoms and a better body image)
dBody mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2