The study was done to estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for sexual dysfunction among adult female survivors of childhood cancer and evaluate associations between dysfunction and psychological QOL.
122 Female survivors and noncancer controls participating in the study completed clinical evaluations, SFQ, and SF-36. Linear models compared SFQ scores between sexually active survivors 712 and controls; survivors with scores <10th percentile of controls were classified with sexual dysfunction. Logistic regression was used to check the associations between survivor characteristics and sexual dysfunction, and between sexual dysfunction and QOL.
Sexual dysfunction was prevalent in the survivors about 19.9% of survivors. Those diagnosed with germ cell tumors, renal tumors, or leukemia were at greater risk compared to controls. Hypogonadism receiving hormone replacement represented an additional risk factor in the physical problems subscale. 2.9% of survivors with sexual dysfunction reported receiving intervention.
The study concluded that the Sexual dysfunction is prevalent among female childhood cancer survivors and few survivors receive intervention; further research is needed to determine if those with sexual dysfunction would benefit from targeted interventions.
Reference: https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(20)30679-2/fulltext
