Discussing Sexual Health in the Medical Oncologist's Practice: Exploring Current Practice and Challenges.

Autor: Krouwel EM; Department of Urology, J3P, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands., Albers LF; Department of Urology, J3P, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands. l.f.albers@lumc.nl.; Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands. l.f.albers@lumc.nl., Nicolai MPJ; Department of Urology, J3P, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands., Putter H; Department of Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands., Osanto S; Department of Oncology, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands., Pelger RCM; Department of Urology, J3P, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands., Elzevier HW; Department of Urology, J3P, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 WB, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education [J Cancer Educ] 2020 Dec; Vol. 35 (6), pp. 1072-1088.
DOI: 10.1007/s13187-019-01559-6
Abstrakt: Sexuality is a significant quality-of-life concern for many cancer patients. Patients may be disadvantaged if they are not informed and not offered sexual health care. We sought to reveal oncologists' current practice and opinions concerning sexual counselling. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitude and practice patterns of Dutch medical oncologists regarding treatment-related sexual dysfunction. Questionnaires were sent to 433 members of the Dutch Society of Medical Oncology. The majority (81.5%) of the 120 responding medical oncologists (response rate 30.6%) stated they discussed sexual function with fewer than half of their patients. At the same time, 75.8% of the participating oncologists agreed that addressing sexual function is their responsibility. Sexual function was discussed more often with younger patients and patients with a curative treatment intent. Barriers for avoiding discussing sexual function were lack of time (56.1%), training (49.5%) and advanced age of the patient (50.4%). More than half (64.6%) stated they had little knowledge about the subject and the majority (72.9%) wanted to acquire additional training in sexual function counselling. Medical oncologists accept that sexual function counselling falls within their profession, yet they admit to not counselling patients routinely concerning sexual function. Only in a minority of cases do medical oncologists inform their patients about sexual side effects of treatment. Whether they counsel patients is related to how they view patient's prognosis, patient's age, and self-reported knowledge. Findings indicate there is a role for developing education and practical training.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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