(015) Sexual Health and Relationship Enhancement (SHARE) for Women with Breast Cancer: Results from a Clinical Trial
Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Introduction Sexual difficulties in the context of cancer survivorship remains an important, unsolved problem. Interventions must be efficacious and disseminable. Interventions that can be delivered to heterogeneous survivor groups can maximize impact on patients' quality of life. Objective Test a group psychosexual intervention -- Sexual Health and Relationship Enhancement (SHARE) -- designed for gynecologic cancer survivors in a sample of breast cancer survivors to determine feasibility and efficacy. Methods Participants were breast cancer survivors (N = 28). The majority (53.6%) was diagnosed at stage I (stage II: 35.7%, stage III: 10.7%). The participants were primarily Caucasian (75%) with an average age of 50.6 years (SD = 11.7, range = 29-79) and the majority were partnered (75%). Intent-to-treat (IIT) analyses were conducted for treatment outcomes. Using all available data, mixed effects modeling tested for change in treatment outcomes from the initial assessment to 3-, 6-, and 9-month assessments. Cohen’s d effect sizes were reported at post-treatment (6 months) and follow-up (9 months). The reliable change index was used to determine whether reliable clinical change had been achieved for each patient. Results The 12-session attendance rate was 23%. The mean number of SHARE sessions attended was 9 (SD=3.2). The rate therapy dropout was 10% (n=3). The patients viewed the treatment as helpful; average helpfulness ratings were 2.5 out of 3.0 (SD=0.4) and 84% of ratings fell in the moderately to very helpful range. Using a 0 to 10 point scale for cohesion, the means were 8.0 (SD=1.1) for involvement in the therapy experience and 9.2 (SD=1.1) for felt support. Significant linear effects of time (improvements) were seen for sexual function, satisfaction, and distress (p<.001); sexual behavior did not change. Effect sizes of change from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up on significant outcome measures were large (d=0.75-1.06). Most participants’ improvement in sexual function (65.2%) and sexual distress (66.7%) was reliable. Almost half of participants reported clinical levels of sexual distress at baseline that decreased to sub-clinical levels at follow-up, and 16.7% of participants had baseline clinical sexual dysfunction that was sub-clinical at follow-up. Conclusions SHARE-B is feasible and efficacious for addressing sexual morbidity following breast cancer, indicating it is likely possible to deliver to women with a variety of disease sites improving scalability of the intervention. Disclosure No
Source: The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Authors: K Carpenter, H Holmes, K Conroy, L Black
Language: English
Topic: Cancer survivorship and care
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4377968520