Gender and sexual dysfunction in Thai cancer patients: A comparative study

Objective: To compare sexual dysfunction between male and female who have cancer in Thailand. Materials and Methods: The present study was a comparative descriptive research. Participants included 55 females with breast cancer and 55 males with cancer at prostate, bladder, and colon. They were all completed treatment for six months to two years from a university hospital, and two cancer hospitals. The instruments were the personal information and disease related treatment questionnaire and the Sexual Health Dysfunction developed by Kumdaeng (2007). Data were collected between March and June 2013. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the sexual health dysfunction was 0.90. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistic and Mann-Whitney test. Results: There was no significant difference of overall sexual dysfunction between male and female patients. For six subscales of sexual dysfunction, desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, mental support, and love were significant different between male and female at 0.05. Conclusion: Result findings can provide evidence for appropriate management to improve sexual health and quality of life in both sexes of Thai cancer patients.