Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites

Introduction: For the estimated 15 million cancer survivors in the United States, access to accurate information regarding quality of life issues such as sexual health and fertility preservation is a very important part of cancer recovery. Aim: Because National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated canc...

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Main Authors: Tejash Shah, MD, David Shin, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2020-06-01
Series:Sexual Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116120300313
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author Tejash Shah, MD
David Shin, MD
author_facet Tejash Shah, MD
David Shin, MD
author_sort Tejash Shah, MD
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: For the estimated 15 million cancer survivors in the United States, access to accurate information regarding quality of life issues such as sexual health and fertility preservation is a very important part of cancer recovery. Aim: Because National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated cancer centers (CCs) are leaders of cancer care, we sought to determine the prevalence and quality of information relating to male and female sexual health and fertility on all NCI-designated CC websites. Methods: A total of 70 NCI-designated CC websites listed on www.cancer.gov and divided by geographic regions were carefully analyzed for the presence and quality of male and female sexual health and fertility information. Fisher’s exact test was performed to assess for differences between websites. Main Outcome Measure: We determined the number and percentage of NCI-designated CC websites with sexual health and/or fertility information, availability of information by region, and information available for each gender. Results: Sexual health and/or fertility information was accessible on 43 of 63 (68.3%) CC websites and was more prevalent on comprehensive CC compared with non-comprehensive CC websites (37 of 49 [75.5%] vs 6 of 14 [42.9%] websites, respectively; P < .05). NCI-designated CC websites had less information on sexual health compared with that on fertility (24 of 63 [38.1%] vs 41 of 63 [65.1%] websites, respectively; P < .01). Access to data was less available for men compared with women (35 of 41 [85.4%] vs 41 of 41 [100%] websites, respectively; P < .05) on CC websites providing fertility preservation information. Fifteen CCs in the South Atlantic (11) and East South Central (4) regions did not offer sexual health information on their respective websites. Conclusion: Information regarding sexual health and fertility preservation after cancer treatment is not common and less available for men compared with women on NCI-designated CC websites. The aforementioned data highlight the need to improve the quality and accessibility of sexual health and fertility preservation information for all NCI-designated CC websites.Shah T, Shin D. Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites. J Sex Med 2020;8:315–317.
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spelling doaj.art-0f0719997be742d990358c40703417ff2023-09-03T03:34:30ZengOxford University PressSexual Medicine2050-11612020-06-0182315317Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center WebsitesTejash Shah, MD0David Shin, MD1Divsion of Urology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USADepartment of Urology, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, Nutley, NJ, USA; Department of Urology, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ USA; Corresponding Author: David Shin, MD, HackensackUMC Department of Urology, 360 Essex St., Suite 403, Hackensack, NJ 07601, USA. Tel: +1 551 996-8090; Fax: +1 551 996-8221Introduction: For the estimated 15 million cancer survivors in the United States, access to accurate information regarding quality of life issues such as sexual health and fertility preservation is a very important part of cancer recovery. Aim: Because National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated cancer centers (CCs) are leaders of cancer care, we sought to determine the prevalence and quality of information relating to male and female sexual health and fertility on all NCI-designated CC websites. Methods: A total of 70 NCI-designated CC websites listed on www.cancer.gov and divided by geographic regions were carefully analyzed for the presence and quality of male and female sexual health and fertility information. Fisher’s exact test was performed to assess for differences between websites. Main Outcome Measure: We determined the number and percentage of NCI-designated CC websites with sexual health and/or fertility information, availability of information by region, and information available for each gender. Results: Sexual health and/or fertility information was accessible on 43 of 63 (68.3%) CC websites and was more prevalent on comprehensive CC compared with non-comprehensive CC websites (37 of 49 [75.5%] vs 6 of 14 [42.9%] websites, respectively; P < .05). NCI-designated CC websites had less information on sexual health compared with that on fertility (24 of 63 [38.1%] vs 41 of 63 [65.1%] websites, respectively; P < .01). Access to data was less available for men compared with women (35 of 41 [85.4%] vs 41 of 41 [100%] websites, respectively; P < .05) on CC websites providing fertility preservation information. Fifteen CCs in the South Atlantic (11) and East South Central (4) regions did not offer sexual health information on their respective websites. Conclusion: Information regarding sexual health and fertility preservation after cancer treatment is not common and less available for men compared with women on NCI-designated CC websites. The aforementioned data highlight the need to improve the quality and accessibility of sexual health and fertility preservation information for all NCI-designated CC websites.Shah T, Shin D. Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites. J Sex Med 2020;8:315–317.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116120300313Sexual HealthFertilityCancerWebsites
spellingShingle Tejash Shah, MD
David Shin, MD
Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
Sexual Medicine
Sexual Health
Fertility
Cancer
Websites
title Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
title_full Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
title_fullStr Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
title_full_unstemmed Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
title_short Availability of Male and Female Sexual Health and Fertility Information on National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Center Websites
title_sort availability of male and female sexual health and fertility information on national cancer institute designated cancer center websites
topic Sexual Health
Fertility
Cancer
Websites
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116120300313
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