Psychosocial factors and treatment satisfaction after radical prostatectomy

Sexual and urinary side effects of prostate cancer treatment have been well described in the literature, but less is known about the psychosocial effects of prostate cancer treatment. Objective To prospectively evaluate physical and psychosocial functioning after diagnosis of prostate cancer and factors associ-ated with treatment satisfaction after prostate cancer treatment. Methods Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer at a university-based urology department were invited to participate in this internet-based study. Validated questionnaires were used to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains at pretreatment baseline following diagnosis and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment. Domains of HRQoL included sexual, urinary, and bowel functioning; anxiety and depression; and sleep disturbance, pain, and fatigue. Linear repeated measures models were used to examine changes in self-reported measures at each time point. Results Of 105 men diagnosed with prostate cancer enrolled in the study, 54 completed assessments through 12 months. Decreased erectile function and sexual HRQoL following treatment were not significantly associated with worse treatment satisfac-tion over time. Instead, treatment satisfaction was significantly associated (P < .01) with anxiety (r, .28-.60), depression (r, .32-.48), fatigue (r, .40-.56), pain (r, .32-.61), sleep disturbance (r, .51-.59), and bladder problems (r, .41-.63). Limitations Not all patients were enrolled or completed all longitudinal questionnaires, which may bias the results because of unmeasurable factors. We were not able to.