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Sexual Health Counseling Intervention During Radiation Therapy in Improving Quality of Life for Women With Gynecologic Cancer

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Stage I Vulvar Cancer AJCC v8
Stage IIB Vaginal Cancer AJCC v8
Stage IIIB Uterine Corpus Cancer AJCC v8
Stage IVA Vaginal Cancer AJCC v8
Stage I Cervical Cancer AJCC v8
Stage I Vaginal Cancer AJCC v8
Stage IA Cervical Cancer AJCC v8
Malignant Female Reproductive System Neoplasm
Stage IB Uterine Corpus Cancer AJCC v8
Stage IB Vaginal Cancer AJCC v8
Interventions
Other: Counseling
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Registration Number
NCT04269837
Lead Sponsor
Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Brief Summary

This phase I trial studies a sexual health counseling intervention during radiation therapy in improving quality of life for women with gynecologic cancer. Women with gynecologic cancer often suffer long-term complications from treatment that can affect their physical and psychological well-being. An early sexual health counseling intervention prior to and after radiation may improve symptoms management and reduce the physical and psychological effects of treatment.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine the feasibility of a sexual health counseling intervention before and after pelvic radiation for women with gynecologic cancers.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of a sexual health counseling intervention on patient reported outcomes in quality of life, sexual function, and genitourinary symptoms.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive sexual health counseling prior to starting and at the completion of radiation.

After completion of study, patients are followed up at 1 and 6 months after radiation.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
4
Inclusion Criteria
  • Any patient with endometrial, cervical, vaginal, or vulvar cancer receiving adjuvant external beam radiation or definitive external beam radiation and brachytherapy will be eligible for the study
  • Those receiving concurrent chemotherapy will be eligible
  • Any prior gynecologic surgery is permitted
Exclusion Criteria
  • Patients with metastatic or recurrent disease and patients receiving brachytherapy alone

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Supportive Care (sexual health counseling)CounselingPatients receive sexual health counseling prior to starting and at the completion of radiation.
Supportive Care (sexual health counseling)Questionnaire AdministrationPatients receive sexual health counseling prior to starting and at the completion of radiation.
Supportive Care (sexual health counseling)Quality-of-Life AssessmentPatients receive sexual health counseling prior to starting and at the completion of radiation.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Individual completion of the counseling sessions and questionnairesUp to 6 months post radiation

Patients' characteristics and responses to the questionnaires will be summarized using appropriate summary statistics based on their distributions. Parametric tests such as the student's t test and Chi-square test or nonparametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test will be used to compare patients' characteristics between patients who completed the program and those who did not.

Overall completionUp to 6 months post radiation

Patients' characteristics and responses to the questionnaires will be summarized using appropriate summary statistics based on their distributions. Parametric tests such as the student's t test and Chi-square test or nonparametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test will be used to compare patients' characteristics between patients who completed the program and those who did not.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Quality of life (QoL)Up to 6 months post radiation

Will be assesses using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Core QoL Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Data will be displayed graphically using boxplots, histograms and scatterplots to identify interesting features and potential outliers.

Genitourinary symptoms using Vaginal Heal Assessment (VHA)Up to 6 months post radiation

Will be assessed using the VHA. Data will be displayed graphically using boxplots, histograms and scatterplots to identify interesting features and potential outliers.The Vaginal Health Assessment, the examination tool used in the clinical validation of the VAS, will be utilized to for the gynecologic physical examination for all patients. 15 The assessment evaluates the physical aspect of the vagina including agglutination, adhesions, pH, dryness, rugosity, elasticity, length, thickness, epithelial integrity, vascularity, and irritation. Vaginal diameter will also be assessed during the manual portion of the exam.

Estimates will be \<2.5, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 or \>4 cm. 16

Genitourinary symptoms using Vaginal Assessment Scale (VAS)Up to 6 months post radiation

Will be assessed using the VAS. Data will be displayed graphically using boxplots, histograms and scatterplots to identify interesting features and potential outliers. Each item is scored from 0 (none) to 3 (severe) and a composite score is calculated by taking the mean of the items.

A lower score indicates better function. In cancer patients and survivors, the scale were found to have high internal consistency.

Sexual functionUp to 6 months post radiation

Will be assessed using the EORTC QLQ-CX24. Data will be displayed graphically using boxplots, histograms and scatterplots to identify interesting features and potential outliers.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Columbus, Ohio, United States

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