Abstract
: This study examines the relationships of mood, age, living with a spouse, and time elapsed since diagnosis of first recurrence to sexual interest. Seventy-two women with metastatic breast cancer and 26 of their spouses were recruited through their oncologists. Women and their spouses were administered a battery of measures designed to assess psychosocial and medical variables. Eighty-three percent of the women and 100% of the spouses indicated that sexual pleasure was something they wanted to experience; however, only 25% of the women indicating this interest and only 19% of the spouses reported that it had been easy for them to experience sexual pleasure. For patients, living with a spouse was significantly associated with being interested in experiencing sexual pleasure [p <.05]. Patients with lower mood disturbance were significantly more able to experience sexual pleasure than those with high mood disturbance scores [p <.05]. Ability to experience sexual pleasure was significantly and positively correlated between patients and their spouses (r=.56, p <.01). Sexuality is an important aspect of quality of life for metastatic breast cancer patients and their spouses. Further research is needed to examine psychosocial factors that affect sexuality for this population.
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