College of Nursing, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
Front Public Health. 2020 Oct 16;8:559851. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.559851. eCollection 2020.
Health professionals contribute toward addressing the sexual health care (SHC) of cancer patients, given the frequency of contact with their patients. This study investigated nurses' and physicians' SHC attitudes, practices, and educational needs relating to cancer patients' SHC. Using a cross-sectional study design, we assessed South Korean health professionals' attitudes, practice, and training needs related to cancer patients' SHC. Differences in attitudes and practices among the groups were analyzed an independent-samples -test, ANOVA, and ANCOVA using SPSS. The demographic characteristics, including sex, marital status, and age, were associated with SHC attitudes and practices. There was a significant difference in the level of nurses' and physicians' attitudes regarding SHC. Compared to nurses, physicians were found to hold a more positive attitude toward SHC. Nurses performed practices pertaining to reproductive care significantly more than physicians after controlling for demographic variables. A small correlation was found between scores on the SHCS-A and the SHCS-P among the groups. Participants' educational needs regarding SHC included changes in sexual function, safe sex during treatment, reproductive health, and sexual counseling approaches. Equipping oncology nurses and physicians with the knowledge to extend their roles by managing cancer patients' sexual function, psychological and social problems, and reproductive care would be effective. Additionally, oncology nurses who are mainly women and relatively younger than physicians ought to enhance their skills in communicating with and counseling male cancer patients.
健康专业人员在接触患者的频率方面为解决癌症患者的性健康护理 (SHC) 做出了贡献。本研究调查了护士和医生与癌症患者 SHC 相关的 SHC 态度、实践和教育需求。我们使用横断面研究设计评估了韩国卫生专业人员对癌症患者 SHC 的态度、实践和培训需求。使用 SPSS 通过独立样本 t 检验、方差分析和协方差分析分析了组间态度和实践的差异。人口统计学特征，包括性别、婚姻状况和年龄，与 SHC 态度和实践有关。护士和医生对 SHC 的态度水平存在显著差异。与护士相比，医生对 SHC 的态度更为积极。在控制人口统计学变量后，护士在生殖保健方面的实践明显多于医生。在组间 SHCS-A 和 SHCS-P 之间发现了小的相关性。参与者对 SHC 的教育需求包括性功能变化、治疗期间安全性行为、生殖健康和性咨询方法。通过为肿瘤护士和医生提供管理癌症患者性功能、心理和社会问题以及生殖保健的知识，扩展他们的角色将是有效的。此外，主要是女性且比医生相对年轻的肿瘤护士应该提高与男性癌症患者沟通和咨询的技能。
