To characterize decision-making processes and outcomes among men expressing early-treatment preferences for low-risk prostate cancer.
We conducted telephone surveys of men newly diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer in 2012 to 2014. We analyzed subjects who had discussed prostate cancer treatment with a clinician and expressed a treatment preference. We asked about decision-making processes, including physician discussions, prostate-cancer knowledge, decision-making styles, treatment preference, and decisional conflict. We compared the responses across treatment groups with χ2 or ANOVA.
Participants (n = 761) had a median age of 62; 82% were white, 45% had a college education, and 35% had no comorbidities. Surveys were conducted at a median of 25 days (range 9-100) post diagnosis. Overall, 55% preferred active surveillance (AS), 26% preferred surgery, and 19% preferred radiotherapy. Participants reported routinely considering surgery, radiotherapy, and AS. Most were aware of their low-risk status (97%) and the option for AS (96%). However, men preferring active treatment (AT) were often unaware of treatment complications, including sexual dysfunction (23%) and urinary complications (41%). Most men (63%) wanted to make their own decision after considering the doctor's opinion, and about 90% reported being sufficiently involved in the treatment discussion. Men preferring AS had slightly more uncertainty about their decisions than those preferring AT.
Subjects were actively engaged in decision making and considered a range of treatments. However, we found knowledge gaps about treatment complications among those preferring AT and slightly more decisional uncertainty among those preferring AS, suggesting the need for early decision support.
Psycho-oncology. 2017 Jul 13 [Epub]
Richard M Hoffman, Stephen K Van Den Eeden, Kimberly M Davis, Tania Lobo, George Luta, Jun Shan, David Aaronson, David F Penson, Amethyst D Leimpeter, Kathryn L Taylor
Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA., Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA., Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA., Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Biomathematics, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA., Department of Urology, Kaiser Permanente East Bay, Oakland, CA, USA., Department of Urological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.