The Effect of Group Counselling on Body Image and Sexual Satisfaction Among Women with Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE: Group counselling (GC) can help people to cope with cancer-induced bodily changes. However, group counselling effects on sexual health of breast cancer patients is largely unknown. The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of group counselling on body image and sexual satisfaction among patients with breast cancer in Mashhad, Iran. METHODS: This study was a randomised controlled trial with pre-and post-tests. Respondent-driven sampling was used to sample from women, who visited oncology hospitals in Mashhad. The primary sample consisted of 60 married breast cancer women that after providing informed consent, were randomly allocated into two intervention and control groups. GC was provided to the intervention group for four 90-130 minute sessions were administered twice a week, and the control group only received routine care. Data was gathered using index sexual satisfaction (ISS) and Body Image after Breast Cancer Questionnaire (BIBCQ) questionnaires and were analysed in two stages of pre-and post-test, using the Chi-square test and two-way covariance analysis through SPSS-16 software. RESULTS: The mean of body image scores before and after GC was 14.7 ± 6.0 and 9.2 ± 4.4 respectively which showed -5.5 ± 3.2 decrease (p < 0.05) also, sexual satisfaction mean before and after GC was 93.5 ± 23.4 and 104.4 ± 22.0 respectively which showed 10.8 ± 10.9 scores increase (p < 0/05). CONCLUSION: The GC was effective in sexual satisfaction and improvement of body image among breast cancer survivors. GC has clinical significance as it provided an opportunity for women to improve their sexual health.