Depression, Anxiety and Sexual Satisfaction in Breast Cancer Patients and their Partners-Izmir Oncology Group Study

Background: We aimed to investigate anxiety, depression and sexual satisfaction levels and the effects ofdepression and anxiety upon the sexual satisfaction of Turkish breast cancer patients and their partners. Materialsand
Methods: Data were collected from one hundred breast cancer patients and their partners, using threeforms: one covering information about socio-demographic characteristics of the patients, the Hospital Anxietyand Depression Scale (HADs) and the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS).
Results: Thefrequencies, avoidance and touch subscores were statistically significantly high in the patients. Among thosewith high anxiety scores, the frequency, communication, satisfaction, touch, and anorgasmic subscale scoresof GRISS were found to be significantly high. Among the partners whose anxiety scores were high, only thepremature ejaculation subscale was statistically significant. It was determined that for partners with higherdepression scores, the communication, satisfaction, avoidance, premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunctionsubscores of GRISS were statistically higher compared to partners with lower depression scores.
Conclusions:Patients’ quality of life may be increased by taking precautions to reduce their and their partners’ psychosocialand psychosexual concerns.