BACKGROUND: In men with PCa, large variations of PROs after RP or high-dose RAD might be related to between-country differences of medical and sociodemographic variables, and differences in PROs before treatment in the sexual and urinary domains.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 1908 patients with localized PCa from Norway, the United States, or Spain, the relation between medical (prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score, cT-category) and sociodemographic variables (age, education, marital status) before treatment was investigated. Using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire, PROs before treatment within the sexual and urinary domains were also considered.
RESULTS: Compared with the European patients, American patients were younger, fewer had comorbid conditions, and more had a high education level. Fifty-three percent of the US men eligible for RP had low-risk tumors compared with 42% and 31% among the Norwegian and the Spanish patients, respectively. Among the Spanish RAD patients, 54% had had low-risk tumors compared with 34% of the American and 21% of the Norwegian men planned for RAD, respectively. Compared with the European patients, significantly fewer US patients reported moderate or severe sexual dysfunction and related problems. In most subgroups, the number of patients with sexual or urinary dysfunction exceeded that of patients with bother related to the reported dysfunction.
CONCLUSION: Statistically significant between-country differences were observed in medical and sociodemographic variables, and in PROs before treatment within the sexual and urinary domains. Large differences between reported dysfunction and related problems within the sexual and urinary domains indicate that dysfunction and bother should be reported separately in addition to calculation of summary scores. The documented differences, not at least regarding PROs, might in part explain the large variation of side effects after treatment evident in the medical literature.
Written by:
Storås AH, Sanda MG, Ferrer M, Loge JH, Dahl AA, Steinsvik EA, Guedea F, Cvancarova M, Fosså SD. Are you the author?
Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Urology, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA; Health Services Research Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of ENT, Division of Surgery, Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, Norway; Department of Radiation Oncology, Catalan Institute of Oncology, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Reference: Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2014 Jan 3. pii: S1558-7673(13)00318-2.
doi: 10.1016/j.clgc.2013.12.007
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24524968
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