ArticleColorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland2025
Sexual dysfunction after colorectal and anal cancer-treatment in nurse-led sexological clinics.
Article in Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence, risk factors, and interventions for female sexual dysfunction after radiotherapy for anal cancer: a systematic review.British journal of cancer · 2026Pooled it
- Sexual dysfunction after colorectal and anal cancer-treatment in nurse-led sexological clinics.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2025Article
- Iatrogenic Menopause and Severe Sexual Health Disruption Following Chemoradiotherapy: The Role of Natural-Origin Polynucleotides.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimSexual dysfunction after colorectal and anal cancer is common but rarely identified and treated, although effective treatment options do exist. Therefore, we recently established nurse-led clinics for the treatment of sexual dysfunction after pelvic organ cancer at two Danish university hospitals. The aim of this paper is to present patients' clinical characteristics, the treatments offered and improvements in sexual function recorded.
methodIn this cohort study, colorectal and anal cancer patients were referred to the clinics at any time point after their cancer treatment. Specialized treating nurses identified and registered organic sexual disorders and psychological concerns at the first visit, and initiated treatments. Treatments were algorithm-based and rooted in a biopsychosocial approach. Patient-reported outcome measures were completed at baseline and 3 months after discharge.
resultsAmong 127 referred patients, 78% were men. The mean age was 60.6 years (SD 10.4 years) and the women were a mean 7.3 years younger than the men (p = 0.001). Eighty per cent were rectal cancer patients. The most prevalent disorder was erectile dysfunction in men (95%) and dyspareunia in women (71%). Psychological concerns were registered in 53% of men and 54% of women. Pharmacological treatments, mainly phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, were prescribed to 87% of men, and local oestrogens were prescribed to 54% of women. Instructions in the use of sexual aids were given to 22% of men and 42% of women. Furthermore, sexual counselling/therapy was offered to 44% of men and 92% of women to address sexuality related psychological problems. Three months after discharge, a clinically relevant improvement of ≥1 point was found in 68% of patients in at least one of three single items measuring 'Meaningful sex life', 'Sexual needs met' and 'Overall rating of sex life' on a five-point Likert-scale.
conclusionAt nurse-led clinics, specialized nurses can effectively identify and treat sexual problems in patients with sexual dysfunction following colorectal/anal cancer. Organic dysfunctions were prevalent, and psychological problems characterized most patients. This highlights that treatment needs to be multidisciplinary and that patients benefit from specialized care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.