NEW
YORK, May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The partners
of patients with prostate cancer grapple with their own
quality-of-life issues that impact their sexual well-being, a new
study shows. Using the first questionnaire of its kind, the authors
uncovered key challenges faced by patients' wives and female
partners, including difficulties with communication about their
sexual needs, inadequate sexual health counseling by physicians,
and feelings of isolation and loss of intimacy.
Among the most common forms of cancer in American men, prostate
cancer and its treatments are well known to cause side effects
ranging from erectile dysfunction to decreased libido. Although
their impact on patients' partners has been recognized, the details
of their struggles had until now remained poorly understood and not
easily assessed. As a result, they do not receive appropriate
support from healthcare providers.
To shed light on and help address these concerns, a team led by
researchers at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center
developed the questionnaire to evaluate the sexual health of 200
female partners from across the U.S. The survey responders
consistently cited "loss of connection" as a couple, high levels of
distress, and poor communication with their spouses and healthcare
providers about the impact of sexual dysfunction from prostate
cancer treatment. In addition, they showed higher levels of
depression than American women in the same age groups evaluated in
past studies.
"Our findings highlight the substantial impact of prostate
cancer on female partners of patients," said study lead author and
urologist Stacy Loeb, MD. "Couples
may benefit from referral to a sexual medicine specialist, sex
therapy, support groups or mental health services that focus on
loss and grief, and sexual rehabilitation," added Loeb, a professor
in the Departments of Urology and Population Health at NYU Grossman
School of Medicine and Perlmutter Cancer Center.
In an earlier study published in 2022, Loeb and her team had
analyzed online posts written by female partners of prostate cancer
survivors, expressing concerns about their sex lives and
relationships. Many said they felt invisible to the healthcare
system. The lack of tools available to measure the extent of these
issues and track them over time led the team to design a formal
questionnaire that can help clinicians gauge partners' sexual
health and refer them for support.
A report on this tool published online May 18 in the journal European Urology
Oncology.
To develop the questionnaire, the researchers drafted an initial
assessment using data from the 2022 investigation and hosted
meetings with experts to refine the questions. Besides covering
communication, distress, and feelings about loss of intimacy and
connection, the survey also explored satisfaction with
nonpenetrative sexual activity and willingness to expand the
variety of their sexual activity.
Next, the researchers held 90-minute interviews with a dozen
female partners to further identify common experiences and
determine how effectively the questions captured their sexual
health concerns. Based on the responses, the researchers further
refined the survey.
The team then administered the questionnaire to 200 female
partners recruited nationwide from clinical sites, online health
communities and prostate cancer organizations. Subsequently, using
a statistical analysis, they arrived at 19 questions that best
captured partners concerns, and determined that the survey was
reliable and valid (meaning the results actually represent what
they are intended to measure).
According to the authors, the average scores for each question
of the partner survey can serve as a baseline of comparison for
others when thinking about their sexual health.
"Our hope is that clinicians will use our survey to help
patients and their partners identify issues in their sex lives that
are impacted by this common cancer and to help determine what
support services could be useful," added Loeb. "When thinking about
living with prostate cancer, this is really a couples' disease, and
partners' unmet needs should be part of the conversation."
She notes that the team has developed a website with the
Prostate Cancer Foundation that provides the survey free of charge,
as well as additional sexual health resources that address the key
issues related to recovering sexual intimacy after prostate cancer
treatment.
According to Loeb, the researchers next plan to explore the
impact of the illness on the sex lives of male and nonbinary
partners.
Funding for the study was provided by United States Department
of Defense grant W81XWH2010699 and by National Institutes of Health
grant KL2TR001446.
In addition to Loeb, other NYU Langone investigators involved in
the study are Natasha Gupta, MD,
MSc; Nataliya Byrne, BA; and
Tatiana Sanchez Nolasco, MPH. Other
study investigators included Daniela
Wittmann, PhD, and Laura
Zebib, MPH, at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor; Christian
Nelson, PhD, and John
Mulhall, MD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in
New York City; Carolyn Salter, MD, at Madigan Army Medical
Center in Tacoma, Wash.; and
Leigh Garrett, PhD, at Inspire
Online Health Community in Arlington,
Va. Elizabeth Schofield, PhD,
at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, served as study senior
author.
Media Inquiries:
Shira Polan
Phone: 212-404-4279
shira.polan@nyulangone.org
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SOURCE NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone
Health