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The impact of sexual orientation on body image, self‐esteem, urinary and sexual functions in the experience of prostate cancer
Author(s) -
Thomas C.,
Wootten A. C.,
Robinson P.,
Law P. C. F.,
McKenzie D. P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.12827
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , medicine , sexual function , prostate cancer , quality of life (healthcare) , orientation (vector space) , clinical psychology , modality (human–computer interaction) , self esteem , cancer , psychology , social psychology , geometry , nursing , mathematics , human–computer interaction , computer science
Prostate cancer ( PC a) poses a large health burden globally. Research indicates that men experience a range of psychological challenges associated with PC a including changes to identity, self‐esteem and body image. The ways in which sexual orientation plays a role in the experience of PC a, and the subsequent impact on quality of life (QoL), body image and self‐esteem have only recently been addressed. By addressing treatment modality, where participant numbers were sufficient, we also sought to explore whether gay (homosexual) men diagnosed with PC a ( PC aDx) and with a primary treatment modality of surgery would report differences in body image and self‐esteem compared with straight (heterosexual) men with PC aDx with a primary treatment modality of surgery, compared with gay and straight men without PC aDx. The results of our study identified overall differences with respect to PC aDx (related to urinary function, sexual function and health evaluation), and sexual orientation (related to self‐esteem), rather than interactions between sexual orientation and PC aDx. Gay men with PC aDx exhibited higher levels of urinary functioning than straight men with PC aDx, the difference being reversed for gay and straight men without PC aDx; but this result narrowly failed to achieve statistical significance, suggesting a need for further research, with larger samples.