Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38114711›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2025

Silent suffering: the impact of sexual health challenges on patient-clinician communication and adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy among Black women with early-stage breast cancer.

Janeane N Anderson, Andrew J Paladino, Ryan Blue, Derek T Dangerfield, Susan Eggly, Michelle Y Martin, Lee S Schwartzberg, Gregory A Vidal, Ilana Graetz

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Sexual health among patients with breast cancer undergoing endocrine therapy: an integrative review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Janeane N AndersonCollege of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 874 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA. jande163@uthsc.edu.
Andrew J PaladinoCollege of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 910 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38103, USA.
Ryan BlueCollege of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 874 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
Derek T DangerfieldDepartment of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave. NW #308, Washington, D.C, 20037, USA.
Susan EgglyDepartment of Oncology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, 87 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA.
Michelle Y MartinDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 66 N. Pauline Street, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
Lee S SchwartzbergRenown Oncology/Hematology, 75 Pringle Way, Reno, NV, 89502, USA.
Gregory A VidalWest Cancer Center Research Institute, 7945 Wolf River Blvd, Germantown, TN, 38138, USA.
Ilana GraetzDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
University of Tennessee Health Science Center · USEmory University · USMilken Institute · USWayne State University · USWest Cancer Center · US

Funding

Effect of patient-provider sexual communication adjuvant endocrine therapy adherence, sexual dysfunction management, and sexual quality of life among Black women with breast cancerR01CA218155 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCI CTR · PI GRAETZ, ILANA · 2017 to 2021
$2.3M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA218155
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeAdjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) increases sexual health challenges for women with early-stage breast cancer. Black women are more likely than women of other racial/ethnic groups to report adverse symptoms and least likely to initiate and maintain AET. Little is known about how sexual health challenges influence patient-clinician communication and treatment adherence. This study explores facilitators of and barriers to patient-clinician communication about sexual health and how those factors might affect AET adherence among Black women with early-stage breast cancer.

methodsWe conducted 32 semi-structured, in-depth interviews among Black women with early-stage breast cancer in the U.S. Mid-South region. Participants completed an online questionnaire prior to interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

resultsParticipants' median age was 59 (range 40-78 years, SD = 9.0). Adverse sexual symptoms hindered participants' AET adherence. Facilitators of patient-clinician communication about sexual health included female clinicians and peer support. Barriers included perceptions of male oncologists' disinterest in Black women's sexual health, perceptions of male oncologists' biased beliefs about sexual activity among older Black women, cultural norms of sexual silence among Southern Black women, and medical mistrust.

conclusionsAdverse sexual symptoms and poor patient-clinician communication about sexual health contribute to lower AET adherence among Black women with early-stage breast cancer. New interventions using peer support models and female clinicians trained to discuss sexual health could ameliorate communication barriers and improve treatment adherence. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Black women with early-stage breast cancer in the U.S. Mid-South may require additional resources to address sociocultural and psychosocial implications of cancer survivorship to enable candid discussions with oncologists.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic Agents, HormonalBlack or African AmericanBreast NeoplasmsPhysician-Patient RelationsSexual HealthAdultAgedChemotherapy, AdjuvantCommunicationFemaleHumansMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingAntineoplastic Agents, HormonalAdjuvant endocrine therapyBlack womenBreast cancerMedication adherencePatient-clinician communicationSexual health

Identifiers

PMID38114711
PMCPMC11216545
OpenAlexW4389942330

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.