The Association between Insomnia and Orgasmic Difficulty for Prostate Cancer Patients – Implication to Sex Therapy

Abstract

Sexual dysfunction and insomnia are common side effects of prostate cancer (PCa) treatment, but the link between these symptoms has not been explored. We explore here the association between various sexual parameters and insomnia symptoms in PCa patients. Data were collected via an online survey with recruitment through various PCa organizations. One hundred and forty two patients (age = 67.3 ± 8.9 years) completed the survey. The majority were in a relationship (84.6%), of Caucasian ethnicity (83.1%), and 33% had previously received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Control variables—age, number of comorbidities, past ADT use, body mass index, depression, anxiety, fatigue and daytime sleepiness—explained 58.2% of the variance for insomnia symptoms. Including orgasm difficulty in the models accounted for an additional 2.1% in the variance in insomnia symptoms. Conversely, the control variables listed above together with insomnia symptoms predicted 37.7% of the overall variance in orgasm difficulty in PCa patients. These data suggest that sexual rehabilitation programs for PCa patients should assess insomnia symptoms, and therapies to improve sexual function or sleep quality may be beneficial in both functions given the relationship between sleep and orgasm functions in this population.

Acknowledgments

We thank various PCa support groups and organisations who helped distribute our survey including: Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand, Prostate Cancer International, Cancer Society NZ, Prostate Cancer Foundation BC, Canadian Cancer Society, Prostate Problems Mailing List, Cancer Survivors Network, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Cancer Society Ireland, Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia, Prostate Cancer Centre Calgary, SurvivorNet. We thank Richard Wassersug for critical feedback on our manuscript.

Declaration of interest

None

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by a funding from the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago to Dr. Erik Wibowo.