A team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, led by Sigrid Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, conducted research studies to help design sexual health questionnaires with more meaningful and applicable language for female cancer patients. With funding from the SHE+ foundation in 2018 and 2019, the researchers are interviewing women regarding their views of commonly used sexual health questionnaires to identify suggestions for improvement.

SEXUAL HEALTH CONCERNS AMONG BREAST CANCER PATIENTS FOLLOWING MASTECTOMY AND RECONSTRUCTION

About 85% of breast cancer survivors report sexual dysfunction and profound, unexpected changes in their perception of their body image and intimacy following mastectomy with reconstruction.
However, these are often overlooked by the treatment team. Although postmastectomy breast reconstruction patients who receive sexual medicine consultation have better understanding of their sexual function and improved sexual health, less than 7% of breast cancer patients receive medical guidance for sexual dysfunction.

The SHE+ Foundation awarded a grant to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to conduct online surveys to measure sexual health outcomes and virtual focus groups to assess
the effect of sexual medicine consultation on perceptions of sexual health and intimacy following mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. The findings from this study will be used to identify common themes that can be applied to consultations for future patients.