Mina Esmkhani
1 
, Noura Aghajani
2 , Jeffrey E. Korte
3 , Samaneh Youseflo
4 , Monireh Moharrami-nezhad Fard
1 , Lida Garrosi
5 , Effat Merghati-Khoei
6* 1 Counseling in Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
2 the Brian and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (BASIR), Neuroscience Institution, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, USA
4 Department of Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Esfahan University of Medical Sciences, Esfahan, Iran
5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Ayatollah Mousavi Hospital, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
6 Drug and Sexual Risk Behavior Management and Prevention, Fellow, Iranian National Center of Addiction Studies, Director of Sexual and Family Health Division in Brain and Spinal Injury R6915
Abstract
This study aimed to assess and compare the dimensions of sexual self-concept (SSC) in women with (n=80) and without (n=120) breast cancer (BC). Women with BC and healthy cases in the control group were selected from the same center. The recruiting women referred for screening, and no BC was detected based on the results. The participants completed the demographic and Persian versions of the modified Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaires. Chi-square, t test, and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the data. Women with BC reported significantly higher scores in negative dimensions of SSC, particularly in sexual anxiety and fear of sex (P<0.05). In the dimension of positive self-concept, only the assertiveness score (P=0.008) was different between the two groups. In contrast, the overall score of positive self-concept did not demonstrate a significant difference between the groups. SSC in women with BC seems impaired compared with healthy women.