Psychometric properties of The Self-Efficacy to Communicate about Sex and Intimacy (SECSI) Scale among patients in active treatment
Does the SECSI questionnaire actually work well for measuring how confident women feel about talking to their partners about sex and intimacy while they're actively going through cancer treatment?
College of Health researcher(s)
Abstract
Background
Sexual concerns are a key unmet need among patients with cancer. Women are less likely than men to be assessed for sexual concerns, due in part to a lack of appropriate screening tools. The Self-Efficacy to Communicate about Sex and Intimacy (SECSI) scale measures perceived ability to communicate about sex and intimacy during cancer yet has not been evaluated among patients undergoing active treatment.
Objectives
This study describes sexual, emotional, and interpersonal well-being of partnered women undergoing chemotherapy and evaluates the psychometrics of the SECSI in this sample.
Methods
Participants (N = 149) completed measures of mental health, sexual health, and relationship satisfaction.
Results
Almost 60% of participants reported engaging in sexual activity in the last month. Participants reported feeling most bothered by low sexual interest. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a single-factor structure was insufficient for the SECSI while exploratory factor analysis extracted one factor. Convergent and discriminant validity of the SECSI were also supported by this study’s findings.
Conclusions
This study indicates women undergoing chemotherapy are both engaged in sexual activity, yet bothered by decreased interest, and provides further support for the use of the SECSI in a group of women currently in chemotherapy.