An Internet Delivered Intervention for Re-Adjustment to Sexual Intimacy With an Ostomy After Cancer

This study investigates the feasibility and efficacy of an Internet-delivered intervention for the sexual and intimate re-adjustment of couples in which one partner is living with a temporary or permanent ostomy (e.g., colostomy, ileostomy, urostomy) following treatment for colorectal and/or bladder cancer. The two session intervention will be delivered via online videoconferencing and will focus on facilitating couples' communication around their sexual and intimate relationship. Exercises from sex therapy will be used to scaffold conversations about motivations for having sex, intimacy and sensual pleasure, and relational strengths for coping. The intervention aims to enhance couples' ability to cope with the changes in their sexual and intimate relationship. A group of couples receiving written educational material only will be used as a comparison group to measure change in sexual and intimate adjustment over time.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer; Sexual Dysfunction
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Internet-Delivered Intervention for Sexual Re-Adjustment; Other: Written Educational Material

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
      • Recruiting
      • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
      • Contact: Karen Fergus, PhD; Phone Number: 81447 416-480-6100; Email: karen.fergus@sunnybrook.ca
      • Contact: Molly McCarthy, MA; Phone Number: 81447 416-480-6100; Email: molly.mccarthy@sunnybrook.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria:

Patients meeting all of the following criteria will be eligible for the study:

• Patients who have had a diagnosis of colorectal and/or bladder cancer within their lifetime
• Patients who are at least 1-month post active treatment for colorectal and/or bladder cancer
• Patients who have an ostomy due to colorectal and/or bladder cancer (e.g., colostomy, ileostomy, urostomy; permanent or temporary)
• Patients who are in a committed intimate relationship
• Patients who report changes in their sexual/intimate relationship associated with colorectal and/or bladder cancer and/or living with an ostomy
• Patients who have access to the Internet in a private space
• Patients who reside in Ontario
• Patients who are 18 years of age or older

OR

Partners of patients who meet the above criteria and who are 18 years of age or older

Exclusion criteria:

Patients/couples will be excluded from study participation if:

• Patient is undergoing active treatment for cancer
• Patient or partner report high levels of relational distress and would be better suited to couples therapy
• Couple is attending or plans to attend couples or sex therapy concurrently with participation in study
• Patient or partner is currently experiencing mental health concerns that would interfere with study participation (e.g., suicidal ideation, psychotic disorders, substance abuse, spousal abuse)
• Patient or partner lack English proficiency

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group; Couples in this group will receive the Internet-Delivered Intervention for Sexual Re-Adjustment	Other: Internet-Delivered Intervention for Sexual Re-Adjustment; Couples will meet with a therapist via video-conferencing for two 1.5-hr sessions. The therapist will facilitate couples' communication about their sexual and intimate relationship while providing psychoeducation about couple coping and sexuality after cancer and with an ostomy. Discussion will focus on current concerns, motivations for sex, relational strengths, and intimacy and sensual pleasure. Couples will also be encouraged to practice a sensate focusing exercise between sessions.
Active Comparator: Educational Comparison Group; Couples in this group will receive only written educational material about sexuality and intimacy with an ostomy.	Other: Written Educational Material; Couples will receive written educational material for patients coping with changes in intimacy and sexuality when living with a permanent ostomy. This educational material is published by the United Ostomy Associations of America, Inc. and is available for free download from their website. Couples will have two weeks to read this material.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in sexual functioning from four different time points	Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ): A measure sexual functioning developed specifically for cancer patients and their partners. This measure includes 22 scored items and nine subscales related to different areas of concern (i.e., Interest, Desire, Arousal, Satisfaction, Activity, Orgasm, Masturbation, Relationship, and Problems). For these subscales, higher scores represent better functioning. The optional 5-item Health Impact Scale assess the impact of cancer on the patient's sexual functioning and can be adapted for the partner. For the Health Impact subscale, higher scores represent greater impact.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in communication about sex from four different time points	Dyadic Sexual Communication Scale (DSC): The DSC scale is a 13-item scale that measures how respondents perceive the discussion of sexual matters with their partners. Items are rated on a 6-point Likert type scale (1 = Disagree Strongly, 6 = Agree Strongly).	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in perceived self efficacy in coping with sexual and intimate changes from four different time points	Sexual Self-Efficacy: A 3-item questionnaire for assessing individual's perceived self-efficacy in coping with sexual and intimate change in the context of cancer. Respondents rate their level of confidence in coping with these changes on a scale of 0-100 (0 = cannot do at all, 100 = highly certain can do).	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in relational identity or closeness from four different time points	"We-ness" Questionnaire: A measure of the degree partner's perceive themselves more as being a unit ("we/us") than two separate identities ("I/me" or "you/him/her"), which encompassed an intertwined structure of affective, cognitive, and behavioural facets. The questionnaire includes 16-items about facets of couples' mutual identity and respondents use a 5-point Likert scale to rate the degree to which these facets contribute to their sense of mutual identity in their current relationship. Higher scores represent a greater sense of shared identity.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in mutual identity from four different time points	Inclusion of Other In Self Scale (IOSS): The IOSS is a one-item, visual measure of the degree to which one views one's partner as being part of one's self-concept. Respondents choose one of seven Venn-diagram type images that represent varying degrees of mutual identity. Higher scores represent greater degrees of self-other overlap in identity.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in relational adjustment from four different time points	Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale: A 14-item self-report questionnaire measuring respondents' relational adjustment in terms of consensus, satisfaction, and cohesion. Items are scaled on a 6-point Likert scale.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in psychological adjustment (depression) from four different time points	Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale- Revised (CESD-R): A brief 20-item self-report measure of depressive symptoms experienced over the past week. Respondents indicate how often they have experienced the symptoms over the past week using a 5-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher risk for clinical depression.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Change in psychological adjustment (anxiety) from four different time points	Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7): A brief, 7-item, self-report measure of generalized anxiety. Respondents indicate how often they have experienced symptoms of generalized anxiety over the past two weeks, using a 4-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate greater levels of difficulty.	This questionnaire will be completed by participants at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Patients' change in adjustment to colorectal cancer from four different time points	Functional Assessment for Cancer Treatment - Colorectal Cancer (FACT-C): The "Colorectal Cancer" subscale of the FACT-C will be completed by patients only as a measure of their adjustment to the colorectal cancer and ostomy. The subscale includes 9-items about physical and psychological symptoms related to colorectal cancer and respondents are to indicate the degree to which they experienced these symptoms in the past week using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = not at all, 5 = very much).	This questionnaire will be completed by patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)
Patients' change in adjustment to bladder cancer from four different time points	Functional Assessment for Cancer Treatment - Bladder Cancer (FACT-Bl): The "Bladder Cancer" subscale of the FACT-Bl will be completed by patients only as a measure of their adjustment to the colorectal cancer and ostomy. The subscale includes 9-items about physical and psychological symptoms related to bladder cancer and respondents are to indicate the degree to which they experienced these symptoms in the past week using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = not at all, 5 = very much).	This questionnaire will be completed by patients diagnosed with bladder cancer at T0 (baseline), T1 (within 1-week after intervention), T2 (1-month after intervention), and T3 (3-months after intervention)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Expectancy for Change	Credibility/expectancy questionnaire: A brief 6-item measure of treatment expectancy and rationale credibility.	This questionnaire will be completed once at T0 (baseline)
Therapeutic Alliance	Working Alliance Inventory Short Form-Revised (WAI-SR): The WAI-SR will be used to measure each participant's working alliance with the therapist facilitating the two session intervention. The WAI-SR is a 12-item self-report measure of working alliance from the client's perspective that uses a 5-point Likert scale, where higher score represent better working alliance between client and therapist.	This questionnaire will be completed once at T1 (within 1-week after intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Collaborators: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); York University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Karen Fergus, PhD, C.Psych, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 4, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 31, 2019
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 10, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 15, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): May 16, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 12, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 8, 2019
• Last Verified: March 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 352-2016

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided
• IPD Plan Description: The study will be shared via publication(s) in an academic journal and/or conference presentation(s)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No