Sexual script flexibility after a prostate cancer diagnosis: Implications for sexual satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the relationship among sexual functioning, sexual script flexibility, and sexual satisfaction in individuals diagnosed with prostate cancer. Design: Cross-sectional online survey. Participants: Sixty-one men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. Methods: Online survey of sexual functioning, sexual script flexibility, and sexual satisfaction. Ordinal logistic regression investigated predictors of sexual satisfaction. Findings: Greater sexual script flexibility was associated with a greater likelihood of being sexually satisfied. Conclusions: Helping patients explore different ways of being sexual after treatment could help with sexual satisfaction maintenance. Implications: Patients’ sexual satisfaction may benefit from discussions of issues related to sexuality and ways to work around treatment-related sexual dysfunction with healthcare providers.