Partner status moderates the relationships between sexual problems and self-efficacy for managing sexual problems and psychosocial quality-of-life for postmenopausal breast cancer survivors taking adjuvant endocrine therapy

Objective: Past studies indicate that>90% of breast cancer survivors taking adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) experience menopausal symptoms including sexual problems (eg, vaginal dryness, dyspareunia); however, research examining the impact of these problems on quality-of-life is limited. This cross-sectional study examined (1) the impact of sexual problems and self-efficacy for coping with sexual problems (sexual self-efficacy) on quality-of-life (ie, psychosocial quality-of-life and sexual satisfaction), and (2) partner status as a moderator of these relationships. Methods: Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors taking AET completed measures of sexual problems (Menopause-Specific Quality-of-Life [MENQOL] sexual subscale], sexual self-efficacy, psychosocial quality-of-life (MENQOL psychosocial subscale), and sexual satisfaction (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General item). Results: Bivariate analyses showed that women reporting greater sexual problems and lower sexual self-efficacy had poorer quality-of-life and less sexual satisfaction (all P-values 
Source: Menopause - Category: OBGYN Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research