A silence full of words: sociocultural beliefs behind the sexual health of Iranian women undergoing breast cancer treatment, a qualitative study

PURPOSE: Therapeutic interventions lead to impaired sexual health in women undergoing breast cancer treatment. There are some problem such as vaginal dryness, decreased libido, decreased sexual satisfaction, and decreased frequency of sexual intercourse among breast cancer survivors. This study was conducted to discover the sexual experiences of women undergoing breast cancer treatment. METHODS: A total of 39 semi-structured interviews were held with the women undergoing breast cancer treatment, husbands, and health care providers. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Three categories of cultural and gender taboos, adherence to subjective norms, and hidden values in sexuality were revealed. The cultural and gender taboos category consisted of subcategories of learned sexual shame, fear of judgment, sexual schemas, and gender stereotypes. The adherence to subjective norms category consisted of subcategories of sexual socialization, being labeled as a disabled woman and the priority of being alive to sexuality. The hidden values in sexuality category consist of subcategories of Task-based sexuality, Tamkin, and Sexuality prevents infidelity. CONCLUSIONS: Socio-cultural beliefs affect the sexual health of women undergoing breast cancer treatment, so paying attention to this issue can improve the quality of sexual health services.