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Revealing Strategies for Sexual Adjustments Among Ostomates in Indonesia

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Abstract

As the fourth highest cancer in Indonesia, colorectal cancer (CRC) is one paramount cancer issue that requires urgent healthcare management. Most CRC survivors must undergo ostomy surgery to prevent malignancy and death. The stoma formation negatively impacts the ostomates’ quality of life as it predominantly affects these people’s sexual function, satisfaction, and social life. This study explores in-depth sexual experiences and perspectives of people living with a stoma and their physical, psychological, and cultural influences. This phenomenological qualitative study involved 12 female and male ostomates recruited purposively from the National Cancer Centre Hospital in Indonesia. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, managed using Nvivo 12, and analysed thematically. The contextual findings highlighted four significant themes: sexual disruptions, revealing strategies for sexual adjustments, support from the marital partner, and limited support from the healthcare professionals. An interdisciplinary team supporting the sexual needs of the ostomates is necessary to improve strategies for adjusting to the sexual disruptions after CRC therapy. Pre- and post-stoma surgery counselling is recommended for CRC patients and their partners.

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Funding

This work was supported by Hibah Publikasi Terindeks International (PUTI) Q1. Author Y.A. has received research support from the Universitas Indonesia (Grant No.: NKB-392/UN2.RST/HKP.05.00/2022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternity and Women Health, Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia

    Yati Afiyanti, Ria Andjarwati, Rudi Rudi & April D. Prawesti

  2. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Margaret I. Fitch

  3. Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Helen Helen

  4. Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan Ichsan Medical Centre Bintaro, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia

    Dyah Juliastuti

Authors
  1. Yati Afiyanti
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  2. Margaret I. Fitch
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  3. Helen Helen
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  4. Ria Andjarwati
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  5. Rudi Rudi
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  6. April D. Prawesti
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  7. Dyah Juliastuti
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Yati Afiyanti, Helen, Ria Andjarwati, Rudi, and April D. Prawesti. Data analysis was conducted by Yati Afiyanti, April D. Prawesti, and Dyah Juliastuti. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yati Afiyanti, and Dyah Juliastuti, and Margaret I. Fitch commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yati Afiyanti.

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Competing Interest

All authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of Dharmais Cancer Hospital (Date: 20 June 2022, No. 150/KEPK/VI/2022).

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Informed Consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Afiyanti, Y., Fitch, M.I., Helen, H. et al. Revealing Strategies for Sexual Adjustments Among Ostomates in Indonesia. Sex Disabil 41, 275–287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-023-09793-z

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