Login to Access Video or Poster Abstract: MP56-12
Sources of Funding: None

Introduction

Peyronie&[prime]s Disease (PD) is known to have a significant negative impact on the psychosocial and relationship functioning of male patients, with studies finding increased depression, distress, and sexual dysfunction in men with PD. In just the past year, researchers have also begun to attend to the female partners of these men, studying their own sexual function, relationship satisfaction, and mood. However, these few studies are flawed: by using the male patient as a gateway to access his female partner, they limit their access to women whose partners are comfortable making such a referral; by using surveys that emphasize sexual function, they restrict the opportunity for the partners to define their own concerns. This study seeks to address these problems, using narrative content analysis of Internet posts made by female PD partners to describe and rank the concerns expressed by these women, independent of their interactions with researchers and male partners.

Methods

This is a qualitative study, analyzing the content of Internet posts made by female PD partners on two patient-centered and member-operated, English-language PD support forums. In deference to ethical concerns regarding consent to research, only those posts within the public domain and readily accessible to non-members via Google search were analyzed. A Grounded theory process was used, with open coding to identify themes of concern.

Results

From 2/2005-10/2016, a total of 793 posts were published online, by 48 female PD partners. The primary concern expressed by these women related to difficulty communicating with their partners about PD, with 24/48 (50%) posting about this issue. Secondary concerns were partners&[prime] emotional (18/48 (38%)) and physical (12/48 (25%)) pain. Only 10/48 (21%) expressed concern about their own diminished sexual pleasure, with 4/48 (8%) describing how their partners&[prime] curvature enhanced their sexual experience.

Conclusions

When evaluated through the nonintrusive method of Internet narrative analysis, female PD partners are most concerned with poor communication, followed by their partners&[prime] emotional and physical pain. While their sexual needs do merit attention, this study suggests that interventions targeting the psychosocial needs of patients and their partners would be most meaningful for this population.

Funding

None