JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Despite the prevalence of sexual distress and dysfunction in older adults in general and stroke and colorectal cancer survivors in particular, access to specialized care is limited by organisational barriers and stigma, embarrassment, and discrimination. Because the internet allows reaching services that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to reach and smartphones are personal (intimate) technologies, they are a promising vehicle to close this gap. However, research focusing on smartphone-delivered sexual health promotion programs is scarce.

Objective:

To assess the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of Anathema – an 8-week, iOS/Android smartphone-delivered, individually tailored, cognitive-behavioral sexual health promotion program developed to improve relationship and sexual satisfaction, sexual functioning, sexual distress, sexual pleasure, and HRQoL in older adults, colorectal cancer, and stroke survivors compared to treatment as usual in waiting-list control conditions.

Methods:

Two-arm, parallel, open-label, waiting list, feasibility, pilot randomized controlled trials will be conducted involving older adults, stroke survivors, and colorectal cancer survivors. The primary outcomes in this study are the acceptability, usability, and feasibility of Anathema. Sexual function, relationship and sexual satisfaction, sexual pleasure, sexual distress, anxiety, depression, and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) are secondary outcome variables in this research. This study has been reviewed and approved by Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil (IPO-Porto), Europacolon Portugal, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, and Sigmund Freud University ethics committees.

Results:

We expect Anathema to be highly accepted by the populations under study, to prove feasible to scale up to a parent-RCT, and to be potentially efficacious in improving sexual functioning, relationship and sexual satisfaction, sexual distress, sexual pleasure, and HRQoL in older adults, colorectal cancer and stroke survivors compared to treatment as usual in waiting-list control conditions. Study results will be published in open-access venues according to COREQ and CONSORT e-HEALTH guidelines.

Conclusions:

Study results will inform the refinement and scale-up of Anathema. Anathema's wider-scale implementation can potentially promote the sexual health of largely neglected user groups such as older adults, colorectal cancer, and stroke survivors. Clinical Trial: clinicaltrials.gov review is ongoing.