Breast cancer and its pharmacological treatment often induce an impairment in women’s sexual functioning and couple relationships, as a consequence of physiological changes and psychosocial issues that may arise and persist long after treatment. This study aims to evaluate the sexual functioning, the quality of the couple relationship, and the overall health status of breast cancer survivors. A further objective is to determine the predictive role of specific clinical and sociodemographic variables for sexual functioning and the couple relationship. Sixty-four breast cancer survivors completed the following questionnaires: the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), the Short Form Health Survey-12 (SF-12), and a self-report questionnaire to collect sociodemographic characteristics. Clinical information was retrieved from medical records. Compared to normative data, our sample reported significantly (p < .01) lower mean scores in the FSFI, DAS, and Physical Component (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the SF-12. Multiple regression analyses show a significant effect of age, hormonal therapy, and psychological well-being on sexual functioning and a significant effect of physical and mental well-being on the quality of the couple relationship. Additionally, 75% of patients qualified for sexual dysfunction as measured by the FSFI global scale, and 71.9% declared they were not adequately informed about the side effects of treatments on sexuality. The high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in breast cancer survivors underlines the need for specific attention to this problem, starting from a complete and targeted communication between patients and health providers regarding these side effects.

中文翻译：

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癌症治疗对性和夫妻关系的长期影响

由于治疗后可能出现并持续很长时间的生理变化和心理社会问题，乳腺癌及其药物治疗通常会导致女性性功能和夫妻关系受损。本研究旨在评估乳腺癌幸存者的性功能、夫妻关系质量和整体健康状况。另一个目标是确定特定临床和社会人口学变量对性功能和夫妻关系的预测作用。64 名乳腺癌幸存者完成了以下问卷调查：女性性功能指数(FSFI)、二元调整量表(DAS)、简表健康调查-12 (SF-12)，以及收集社会人口学特征的自我报告问卷。从医疗记录中检索临床信息。与规范数据相比，我们的样本报告显着（p < .01) SF-12 的 FSFI、DAS 和物理成分 (PCS) 和心理成分总结 (MCS) 的平均分数较低。多元回归分析显示年龄、激素疗法和心理健康对性功能有显着影响，身心健康对夫妻关系质量有显着影响。此外，根据 FSFI 全球量表衡量，75% 的患者符合性功能障碍的条件，71.9% 的患者声称他们没有充分了解治疗对性行为的副作用。乳腺癌幸存者性功能障碍的高发病率强调了需要特别关注这个问题，从患者和医疗服务提供者之间就这些副作用进行完整和有针对性的沟通开始。