The Impact of Breast Cancer on Female Sexuality: An Integrative Literature Review

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to conduct an integrative literature review on the impact of breast cancer (CA) on female sexuality.

METHODS: The search was performed online in November 2014 using the following databases: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, PubMed, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS) and the Cochrane Library. The search results consisted of 13 articles.

SYNTHESIS: Most studies have shown that women have less lubrication and a decrease in desire, which directly affect their quality of life. Moreover, 70% of the articles described limitations of the studies, the most cited of which were as follows: small sample size because of the feeling that participants considered the theme to be embarrassing, the altered emotional state decreased willingness to participate in the study, and the non-participation of husbands in the study reduced the impact on marital intimacy.

CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that breast cancer has a negative impact on the sexual function of women who are affected by this disease.