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Objective: To characterize unmet sexual health resource needs and preferences for interventions to address unmet needs among female partners of patients with prostate cancer (PCa), given the significant negative impact of PCa on the sexual health of partners., Methods: We conducted an exploratory sequential mixed methods study of female partners recruited from multiple U.S. clinical locations, websites, and support groups for caregivers. We first conducted semistructured in-depth interviews. Qualitative results informed development of a cross-sectional survey, which was administered to a larger sample of partners., Results: Overall, 12 and 200 female partners participated in the qualitative and quantitative portions of the study. Major emergent themes from interviews were the benefits and drawbacks of technology-based interventions, the importance of sexual health resources throughout the PCa journey, and a desire for sexual health support groups that include partners. In the survey, the most common sexual health topics that partners wanted more information about were male libido problems (30.0%), erectile dysfunction (26.5%), and female libido and arousal problems (24.5%). Additionally, 41.5% wanted more information about sexual health websites, 35.0% about partners-only support groups, 29.5% about support groups for couples, and 23.5% about sexual medicine specialists., Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date on female partners' unmet sexual health resource needs and preferences for sexual health interventions. Partners prefer technology-based interventions, desire sexual health-focused support groups, and want more information about a variety of sexual issues and specialists who treat them., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) and its treatments can have a significant negative impact on the sexual health of survivors and couples, but few studies have specifically examined the impact of PCa-related sexual dysfunction on female partners of survivors., Aim: Our objective was to perform a qualitative study to comprehensively characterize female partners' perceptions of the implications of PCa on their sex lives, as well as partners' sexual health concerns and unmet needs., Methods: We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews about sexual health and unmet needs with female partners of PCa survivors recruited from multiple clinical locations and support groups for PCa caregivers from September 2021 to March 2022. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and independently coded. Participants were recruited until thematic saturation was achieved., Outcomes: Outcomes of this study were female partner sexual health concerns and unmet needs., Results: Among 12 participants, the median age was 65 (range 53 to 81) years, 9 were White, the median time since their partner's PCa diagnosis was 2.25 years (range 11 months to 20 years), and a majority reported that their partner had undergone radical prostatectomy, radiation, and/or hormonal therapy. Major emergent themes pertained to the significant impact of age- and PCa-related sexual dysfunction on female sexual quality of life, the dyadic nature of sexual dysfunction and recovery, the role of the partner in coping with and adjusting to sexual dysfunction, difficulties communicating about sexual dysfunction in an intimate relationship, a lack of physician-led sexual health counseling and support, and the benefit of peer interactions and proactive information seeking in addressing unmet sexual health needs., Clinical Implications: Future efforts should continue to explore the impact of PCa on partner sexual health and address unmet needs through sexual health education and support., Strengths and Limitations: In this study, we identified female partners' sexual health concerns both related to and independent of PCa survivor sexual health. Limitations include exclusion of male partners of survivors and potential responder bias, as partners who agreed to participate may have experienced more sexual health concerns., Conclusion: We found that female partners experience PCa-related sexual dysfunction as a couple's disease, grief due to age- and PCa-related sexual losses, and a lack of physician-led sexual health counseling and information. Our results highlight the importance of including partners of PCa survivors in the sexual recovery process and of developing sexual care programs to address partners' unmet sexual health needs., (© Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society of Sexual Medicine 2023.)

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) and its treatment can have significant and pervasive sexual side effects for patients and their partners; however, partner needs are not well understood, and most resources do not incorporate partner priorities., Aim: Our objective was to perform a qualitative study to identify unmet sexual needs of patients and female partners after PCa diagnosis., Methods: We conducted a qualitative study of posts to the Inspire Us TOO Prostate Cancer Online Support and Discussion Community. Overall, 6,193 posts were identified in the Sexual Health & Intimacy forum of the community, of which 661 posts were from female authors. A random sample of 10% (n = 66) of posts from female partners and an equal number of randomly selected posts from male patients were analyzed., Outcomes: We assessed sexual health themes among patients and female partners., Results: Multiple themes emerged that were unique to female partners of PCa survivors. These included expanding the sexual repertoire, feeling invisible, contextualizing sexual intimacy within the broader picture of survival, and addressing relationship concerns. Patients and their partners also shared common sexual health themes, including coming to terms with changes in sexual function and frustration with clinicians. Both patients and their partners use online health communities to get support and share their experiences with sexual recovery and use of sexual aids. Psychosocial treatments were infrequently mentioned, and may be particularly helpful to address partner concerns., Clinical Implications: A common concern for couples was not receiving sufficient information from healthcare providers regarding sexual side effects from PCa and its treatment., Strengths and Limitations: Strengths of the study include leveraging a unique data source to address an understudied topic of sexual health concerns among partners after PCa diagnosis. However, members of an online community may not be representative of all couples facing PCa. Also, this analysis is limited to female partners of patients with PCa, and further study is underway to examine the sexual health needs among gay and bisexual couples., Conclusion: Both patients and female partners have many unmet sexual health needs during PCa survivorship, and designing interventions to incorporate partner perspectives may improve the management of sexual side effects of PCa for couples. Li R, Wittmann D, Nelson CJ, et al. Unmet Sexual Health Needs of Patients and Female Partners Following Diagnosis and Treatment for Prostate Cancer. J Sex Med 2022;19:1797-1803., (Copyright © 2022 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To better understand the physical and psychosocial components of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) among women undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (BCa)., Methods: We conducted semistructured individual interviews and a focus group with pre- and post-RC female patients and their partners regarding the impact of RC on sexual health and psychosocial wellbeing. Themes were inductively identified by 2 independent coders and subsequently organized into themes and subthemes using qualitative description and constant comparison., Results: In the preoperative cohort, 6 women and 1 partner participated (50% contact rate, 75% participation rate). In the postoperative cohort, 16 women and 2 partners participated (61% contact rate, 64% participation rate). Major themes that emerged in interviews with both cohorts included concerns about changes to body image, the psychological impact of BCa diagnosis and treatment, concerns about the impact of RC on sexual function, and inadequacies in provider-led sexual health counseling. Participants varied in the importance they placed on sexual function, with factors such as age, relationship status, and oncologic concerns impacting prioritization, although both younger and older patients expressed a desire to retain the option of sexual function., Conclusion: Female patients with BCa undergoing RC experience changes in body image, psychological distress, physical disruptions in sexual function, and inadequacies in sexual health counseling and education. Future efforts should be directed towards improving sexual health counseling and psychosocial support resources for women with BCa., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Sexual dysfunction is a common quality-of-life issue among patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer, but patients report deficiencies in sexual health counseling., Aim: We sought to characterize provider-led sexual health counseling of patients undergoing RC and whether provider practice differs by patient gender., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of members of the Society of Urologic Oncology to assess topics included in provider-led sexual health counseling and barriers to counseling., Outcomes: Nonroutine counseling regarding each sexual health topic was compared for female vs male patients using chi-squared tests. Modified Poisson regression was used to examine associations between provider characteristics and nonroutine counseling of female patients., Results: Among 140 urologists, the majority did not routinely counsel patients about sexual orientation, partner sexual dysfunction, or referral options to sexual health services. Providers were significantly more likely to not provide routine counseling to female patients compared to male patients about the following topics: baseline sexual activity (20.6% vs 9.7%, respectively, P = 0.04), baseline sexual dysfunction (60.8% vs 20.2%, respectively, P < 0.05), the risk of sexual dysfunction after RC (20.0% vs 6.5%, respectively, P = 0.006), the potential for nerve-sparing RC (70.8% vs 35.5%, respectively, P = 0.002), and postoperative sexual health and dysfunction (42.6% vs 21.1%, respectively, P = 0.01). Overall, 41.2% of providers did not routinely discuss the potential for pelvic organ-preserving RC with sexually active female patients. Provider sex, age, practice type, urologic oncology fellowship training, years in practice, or female RC volume were not predictive of nonroutine or disparate counseling of female patients. The most common barriers to counseling female patients were older patient age (50.7%), inadequate time (47.1%), and uncertainty about baseline sexual function (37.1%)., Clinical Implications: Urologists acknowledge key deficiencies and gender disparities in sexual health counseling of patients undergoing RC., Strengths and Limitations: Although cross-sectional, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine provider practice patterns regarding sexual health counseling of patients undergoing RC., Conclusion: Future efforts should be directed towards reducing barriers to sexual health counseling of patients undergoing RC to improve deficiencies and gender disparities. Gupta N, Kucirka LM, Semerjian A, et al. Comparing Provider-Led Sexual Health Counseling of Male and Female Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy. J Sex Med 2020;17:949-956., (Copyright © 2020 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)