Background: In light of the relevance of breast cancer and its impact on public health, along with the limited number of psychosocial studies on the subject and the need to understand the situation from a cultural perspective, focused on individuals’ experiencse, an investigation of the sexual experiences of women treated for invasive ductal carcinoma in the Breast Pathology Unit (BPU) of the Hospital Regional de Concepción, Chile was conducted. Method: Qualitative exploratory study with users of the Breast Pathology Unit who were treated for invasive ductal carcinoma (November 2014 - June 2015). Purposive sampling with semi-structured in-depth interviews, with posterior semantically-oriented content analysis. Results: The principal difficulty expressed involved the interaction and communication with their partners, due to the physical transformation as a result of breast surgery and chemotherapy. Additionally, the woman exerienced distancing with their partner due to the impact of the treatment. However, there were some experiences in which the partners expressed support and companionship during the process, which significantly impacted the users’ and their partners’ lives. Conclusion: The women expressed intimate conflicts with their partners mainly due to stigma and body changes as a results of breast cancer treatment, which also leads to limited social participation their personal and community life, triggering an emerging type of disability.
Keywords:
Breast Cancer, Sex, Disability
Author Biographies
Pía Rodríguez, Hospital Regional de Concepción. Unidad de Patología Mamaria
Magíster en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva
Juan Pino, Universidad Autónoma de. Barcelona. Doctorado en Sociología
Rodríguez, P., & Pino, J. (2017). Breast cancer and sexuality: an emerging disability?. Revista Chilena De Salud Pública, 20(2), p. 122–130. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5281.2016.44946
