Sexual Functioning and Body Image of Patients Treated for Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Aim The aim of the study was to determine differences in sexual functioning and body image of patients treated for ovarian cancer, depending on treatment modality: surgery, surgery in combination with chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone.Patients and Methods A total of 483 patients treated for ovarian cancer between 1995 and 2005 completed the questionnaire 2-6 months after finishing the treatment. Patients were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 156 patients with early ovarian cancer, treated only surgically with hysterectomy and bilateral salphingoophorectomy. The second group consisted of 238 patients with advanced stages of ovarian cancer that were treated surgically in combination with chemotherapy. The third group consisted of 89 patients with advanced inoperable or metastatic ovarian cancer who were treated with chemotherapy alone.

Evaluation of Sexual Dysfunction and Affecting Factors in Turkish Women with Gynecological Cancer

“…The pain thus formed ruins desire and excitement, which, in turn, disrupts the woman's self-confidence and leads her to become fearfual of rejection by her partner [1,9,17]. Therefore, when delivering professional guidance to patients with sexual problems, it is essential that the main concerns about sexuality be identified first.…”

Sexual Identity, Body Image and Life Satisfaction Among Women With and Without Physical Disability

“…Both sexual identity and body image are particularly important for women with physical disabilities [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. However, only few studies have explored links between sexual identity and life satisfaction among people with physical disability.…”

“…However, only few studies have explored links between sexual identity and life satisfaction among people with physical disability. These studies examined different dimensions of sexuality: Sexual selfesteem [4,5,13], sexual knowledge and sexual experiences [11], intimate relationship experiences [10], sexual functioning [6], sexual satisfaction [4,7] and various quality of life indicators. The research populations were also different: Most examined people with physical disability in general [3-5, 8, 11, 12].…”

“…The research populations were also different: Most examined people with physical disability in general [3-5, 8, 11, 12]. Others studied people with specific disabilities, such as spinal cord injury [10], ovarian cancer [6] and multiple sclerosis [7]. Moreover, in these studies, different methods were used to measure the same variables.…”

Problematic Areas Related to Sexual Life of Individuals with Gynecological Cancer: A qualitative Study in Turkey

“…Recently conducted studies illustrate that gynecological cancers influence sexual health of women unfavorably. 7,10,12,19 Owing to illnesses and administered treatments in gynecological cancers, four important components of sexual health, namely body image, sexual role function, reproduction ability and sexual function areas suffer. 9,10 As a result of the illness type and administered treatments in gynecological cancers, losses of organs making up the identity of women and physical changes have significant role on body image and self-esteem of women.…”