Men's experiences of sex and intimacy after prostate cancer treatment in China: a qualitative study.

<bold>Purpose: </bold>While the existing knowledge base on the impact of prostate cancer (PC) and its treatment on sexuality and intimacy has been generated from Western populations, there is a lack of such evidence in the Asian context. This study aimed to explore men's experiences of sex and intimacy after PC treatment in China.<bold>Methods: </bold>This study adopted an interpretive descriptive design. Using purposive sampling, 13 PC patients were selected from a urology outpatient unit of a hospital in South China and proceeded with individual semi-structured telephone interviews. Each interview was transcribed verbatim and analyzed using constant comparison analysis.<bold>Results: </bold>Four themes emerged from the interview data, including (a) encountering altered sexuality, (b) communication and sexual adjustments, (c) maintenance of quality intimate relationship, and (d) lack of sexual health support.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The findings revealed that PC treatment significantly impaired patients' sexual functions, and their sexual health needs were mainly unmet by healthcare providers. There is a great need to design culturally relevant interventions to improve sexual health among this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]