Family Wellbeing and Sexual Health of Patients Receiving Treatment for Prostate Cancer [Letter]

Dear editor

We see that the article with the title “Family Wellbeing and Sexual Health of Patients Receiving Treatment for Prostate Cancer” is very useful for understanding more about the sexual health of patients with prostate cancer, because it has the following advantages: 1) exploring the relationship between social/family welfare with sexual function and discomfort with sexual function, so that the influencing social and family factors are more clearly depicted; 2) involves in-depth statistical analysis based on longitudinal data so that a deeper understanding of the factors that influence the sexual health of patients with prostate cancer can be obtained; 3) prove the significance of the modulatory influence of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on the relationship between social/family well-being and sexual dysfunction; 4) provide clear clinical implications of the need for a holistic approach in planning the care of patients with prostate cancer.¹

However, we also see limitations, namely: 1) measuring sexual health only focuses on sexual function and discomfort with sexual function so it does not include other aspects such as intimacy, satisfaction and psychological aspects; 2) measuring social/family well-being does not yet cover all relevant aspects, such as emotional support, practical support, and family relationship dynamics; 3) has not considered the influence of partners’ sexual health on the sexual health of patients with prostate cancer.

Therefore, in future follow-up research, we recommend that: 1) expand more comprehensive sexual health measurements that include aspects of sexual satisfaction, intimacy, and psychological aspects of sexual health;² 2) expanding the measurement of social/family well-being to include aspects of emotional support, practical support, and family relationship dynamics;³ 3) consider the influence of partners’ sexual health on the sexual health of patients with prostate cancer, as well as how more holistic interventions can impact the sexual health of patients and their partners.