Sexual health counseling improves the sexual satisfaction of breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial

Breast cancer and its treatments can cause sexual problems both physically and psychologically by the changes it brings. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sexual health counseling based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the sexual satisfaction of women with chemotherapy-induced menopause (CIM) in breast cancer survivors.

Seventy women with CIM were randomly divided into two intervention (N = 34) and control (N = 36) groups. The intervention group attended eight sessions of 90-min sexual health counseling based on ACT. The control group received an educational booklet. The Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women(SSS-W), the Sexual Quality of Life-Female questionnaire(SQOL-F), and the Menopause Rating Scale(MRS) were used to collect data before, after, and 1 month after the intervention in both groups.

The mean score of sexual satisfaction (F = 45.67, P < 0.001) and sexual quality of life (F = 33.39, P < 0.001) were significantly higher after the intervention and follow-up than before intervention in the intervention group. Also, the mean score of menopausal symptoms was significantly lower after the intervention and follow-up than before intervention in the intervention group (F = 11.80, P < 0.001). However, the mean score of sexual satisfaction (F = 0.02, P = 0.98), sexual quality of life (F = 0.05, P = 0.94), and menopausal symptoms (F = 0.08, P = 0.92) did not show significant differences before, after, and 1 month after the intervention in the control group.

Therefore, sexual health counseling based on ACT seems to have salutary effect on sexual satisfaction, sexual quality of life, and menopausal symptoms of women with breast cancer who experience CIM.

This randomized control trial has been approved by Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT20230105057055N1 at 2023–01-29