The Effect of Sexual Counseling Based on BETTER and PLISSIT Model on Quality of Sexual Life in Women with Breast Cancer after Mastectomy

Background aim: Mastectomy as the most common treatment of breast cancer has many effects on the quality of sexual life. Since there are limited studies on quality of sexual life in breast cancer, this study was conducted to compare the effect of counseling based on two models of PLISSIT and BETTER on quality of sexual life in women with breast cancer after mastectomy. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Mashhad, Iran in 2021. A total of 78 women who underwent mastectomy were randomly allocated into two equal groups and received 4 weekly sessions of individual counseling of 60-90 minutes based on two models of BETTER and PLISSIT. The research tools included demographic and sexual quality of life questionnaire (SQOL-F). The changes in the mean scores of quality of sexual life between the two groups before and 4 weeks after the intervention were measured. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 25) with Kolmogorov-Smirnov, independent t-test, paired t-test, Mann- Whitney and Chi-square test. Results: The mean change score of quality of sexual life before and after the intervention in the group who received counselling based on BETTER model (8.6±5.1) was significantly higher than the group were counselled by PLISSIT model (6.2±5.05) (P 0.001). Conclusion: In cultures such as Iran, where the sexual problems of women with cancer are neglected and patients have a conservative approach to sexual issues, sexual counseling based on the BETTER model is more effective than the PLISSIT model in order to increase the quality of sexual life.