Oncosexology in côte d’Ivoire: Attitudes and Practices of Physicians Involved in the Management of Breast and Prostate Cancer

To evaluate the attitudes and practices of oncosexology in the management of breast and prostate cancer in Côte d’Ivoire.

A cross-sectional, multicenter, descriptive and analytical survey carried out over 02 months from 1 November to 31 December 2022, among doctors involved in the management of breast and prostate cancer in Côte d’Ivoire.

78 physicians on 114 participated in the study, with a participation rate of 79.5%. Only one doctor discussed the sexual risks associated with cancer with all his patients and 7.7% of doctors said they never broached questions of sexuality with their patients. The approach to sexuality was strongly associated with occupation (p = 0.002). A request for onco-sexological care was initiated by the patient and the partner respectively in 3.8% and 25.6% of cases. Only 5.1% of physicians claimed to have received training in oncosexuality. In 92.3% of cases, doctors would like to have training on this topic.

On the questions relating to sexuality, Physicians are not addressing sexuality with their patients diagnosed with breast or prostate cancer. The lack of training in this area appears to be the main reason for this lack of communication and onco-sexological care.