Deteriorating sexual wellbeing can impact long-term quality of life for cancer patients. Rekindle is an online intervention aimed to provide accessible and tailored psychosexual support to cancer survivors. This study assessed feasibility of delivering psychosexual support via Rekindle to cancer survivors/partners with unmet sexual concerns.
Methods:
This phase II study, recruited Australian adult cancer survivors who had completed primary therapy > 6 months earlier and/or partners. Participants were randomized 1:2:1 ratio to either: i) wait list control (WC); ii) Rekindle (10-week online intervention addressing psychoeducational sexual communication and function) (Int); iii) Rekindle Plus (Rekindle intervention plus three support calls) (Int+). Intervention ran for 10 weeks, after which WC group accessed Int. Assessments: baseline (T1), intervention end/10 weeks (T2), and six months (T3). Primary feasibility endpoint was proportion of participants completing prescribed intervention modules.
Results:
2015- 2016, 100 participants were randomised: WC:19, Int:54, Int+:27. Baseline characteristics were matched across groups. 57% were male and 91% cancer survivors; 46% had prostate cancer. Participants were prescribed mean of 6.5/7 modules based on self-reported unmet sexual needs. They completed mean of 1.9(Int) and 2.5(Int+) modules with 30%(Int) and 38%(Int+) completed within 10 weeks. Majority of users (94%, 100%) commenced Module 1; largest drop-out between occurred between Modules 1 and 2. Once started, most participants completed each module (76-100%). The mean number of days taken to complete each module varied (4-14 days).
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated: need for psychosexual support amongst cancer survivors; feasibility of online recruitment and online delivery of intervention for sexual concerns.