Proportion of patients with sexual concerns among cancer patients attending a palliative care outpatient department: A cross-sectional study

Cancer and its treatments can have lasting effects on the body and daily life, including changes to appearance, speech, eating, and breathing. These challenges often affect confidence, relationships, intimacy, and sex life, which for a long time were overlooked by healthcare providers who focused mainly on treating the disease.

Palliative care aims to support the whole person—physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually—so it is important to talk about sexual health during visits. This study will start by asking patients short screening questions about sexual concerns. Later, a more detailed sexual health questionnaire will be developed, tested, and translated into Tamil to ensure it is accurate and easy to understand. Experts in palliative care, psychology, social work, and patient advocacy will review it. A small pilot test with patients will check if the questions are clear and relevant.