Sexuality in cancer patients: Attitudes and views of the students of the Faculty of medicne of Novi Sad

Abstract

Introduction: The increasing number of treated and survived cancer patients is an acknowledgment to more successful therapies and early detection of cancer diseases. However, this success has created a challenge for health care professionals in addressing the issues that affect patients' sexuality. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and beliefs of students integrated studies of medicine and bachelor students, and professional studies of nursing care in terms of sexuality in cancer patients, and to determine the existence of differences between the two study groups involved in this research. Material and methods: The survey was conducted from November to December 2018, in the form of cross-sectional study and included a total of 116 medical students divided into two groups. For the purpose of assessment of students as a means bet using the questionnaire Sexuality Attitude and Belief Survey (SABS) by authors Reynolds K. and Magnan M.A. from 2005. Results: The highest percentage of nurses (91.4%) agree with the sentence to understand how to treat sexuality could affect the health of patients, while as many as 89.7% of this group of respondents disagreed with the sentence that sexuality is too personal problem to was discussed with patients. The highest percentage of medical students (74.1%) agreed with the sentence that most of the hospitalized patients are too sick to be interested in sexuality. The largest discrepancy (69%) was measured for a declaration under which students use their time to talk with patients about their sexual problems. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that there are no significant differences in attitudes be-tween students at both study groups.

Keywords

• sexual health
• medical students
• nursing students
• oncology patients
• attitudes