Phase II feasibility study of rekindle: An online psychosexual intervention for cancer survivors and/or their partners.

Abstract

e21597 Background: Changes to sexual wellbeing can negatively impact long-term quality of life for cancer patients and their partners. Rekindle is an online intervention aimed to provide accessible and tailored psychosexual support to cancer survivors. This study aimed to assessed the feasibility of delivering psychosexual support via Rekindleto cancer survivors and partners who self-report unmet sexual concerns. Methods: This phase II feasibility study, recruited Australian adult cancer survivors who had completed primary therapy > 6 months earlier and/or their partners. Participants were randomized 1:2:1 ratio to either: i) wait list control (WC); ii) Rekindle (10-week online intervention addressing psychoeducational sexual communication and function) (Int); iii) Rekindle Plus ( Rekindleintervention plus three support telephone calls) (Int+). Intervention ran for 10 weeks, after which WC group had access to Int. Participants completed assessments at baseline (T1), intervention end/10 weeks (T2), and six months (T3). The primary feasibility endpoint was the proportion of participants completing prescribed intervention modules. Results: Nov 2015-Dec 2016, 100 participants were randomized: WC: 19, Int: 54, Int+: 27. Baseline characteristics were matched across groups. 57% were male and 91% cancer survivors; 46% had prostate and 23% breast cancer. Participants were prescribed a mean of 6.5 out of 7 modules based on self-reported unmet sexual needs. They completed mean of 1.9 (Int) and 2.5 (Int+) modules with 30% (Int) and 38% (Int+) completed within 10 weeks. A high proportion of users (94%, 100%) commenced Module 1 (Foundations). The largest drop-out between occurred between Modules 1 and 2. Once started, the majority of participants completed each module (76-100%). The mean number of days taken to complete each module varied (4-14 days). Factors impacting engagement with the intervention will also be reported. Conclusions: This phase II study has demonstrated: a need for psychosexual support amongst cancer survivors, that it is feasible to recruit them into an online sexual support study, and to deliver online psychoeducational content for sexual concerns. Clinical trial information: ACTRN12614001245684.