1. Physical sexual and intimate relationship concerns among Indonesian cervical cancer survivors: A phenomenological study.
- Author
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Afiyanti Y and Milanti A
- Subjects
- Adult, Emotions, Fear psychology, Female, Humans, Indonesia, Interpersonal Relations, Interviews as Topic, Middle Aged, Sampling Studies, Sexual Behavior ethnology, Survivors, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms pathology, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms therapy, Asian People psychology, Marriage psychology, Sexual Behavior psychology, Spouses psychology, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms psychology
- Abstract
Cervical cancer often leads to sexuality and intimacy concerns for the affected woman within a marital relationship.This study aimed to explore physical sexual concerns and their impact on the intimate partner relationships experienced by cervical cancer survivors. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with Indonesian women survivors of cervical cancer. Two themes and five sub-themes were constructed from the thematic analysis. The first theme was the physical sexual concerns following cervical cancer treatment, with the subthemes: red spotting and massive vaginal discharge after having sexual intercourse; narrower, smaller and less lubricated vagina; pain during sexual intercourse; feeling of shortened vagina as if it had been cut. The second theme of impact of sexual concerns on intimate partner had five subthemes of: looking for reasons to refuse sexual intercourse; prejudice towards the spouse; feeling forced to fulfil husband's sexual needs; accepting spouse's anger; willingness to let the spouse marry another woman. The findings provide nurses with a greater understanding on how women adapt to their altered sexuality and intimacy with their partner following cancer treatments., (© 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)
- Published
- 2013
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