• Lesley Fallowfield, Ivonne Solis-Trapala, Usha Menon, Carolyn Langridge, Shirley May, Ian Jacobs, and Valerie Jenkins.
• Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9RX, UK.
• Br. J. Cancer. 2017 Apr 11; 116 (8): 1111-1117.

BackgroundTo examine the impact of multimodal (MMS) and ultrasound (USS) screening on the sexual activity and functioning of 22 966 women in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) RCT.MethodsFallowfield's Sexual Activity Questionnaire (FSAQ) was completed prior to randomisation, then annually in a random sample (RS) of women from MMS, USS and control groups. Any women in the study who required repeat screening due to unsatisfactory results formed an Events Sample (ES); they completed questionnaires following an event and annually thereafter.ResultsOver time in the RS (n=1339) there was no difference between the MMS and USS groups in sexual activity compared with controls. In the ES there were significant differences between the USS group (n=10 156) and the MMS group (n=12 810). The USS group had lower pleasure scores (mean difference=-0.14, P=0.046). For both groups women who had ⩾2 repeat screens, showed a decrease in mean pleasure scores compared with their annual scores (mean difference=-0.16, P=0.005). Similarly mean pleasure scores decreased following more intensive screens compared with annual screening (mean difference=-0.09, P=0.046).ConclusionsOvarian cancer screening did not affect sexual activity and functioning unless a woman had abnormal results and underwent repeated or higher level screening.

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