OBJECTIVES: To describe a range of anxieties in men on active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer and determine which of these anxieties predicted health-related quality of life (HRQL).
PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 260 men with prostate cancer on AS were invited to complete psychological measures including the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale; the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Scale; the Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer; and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-Prostate. Overall, 86 men with a mean (sd, range) age of 65.7 (5.4, 51-75) years returned data, yielding a response rate of 33%. Outcome measures were standardised psychological measures. Pearson's correlations were used to examine bivariate relationships, while regression analyses were used to describe predictors of dependent variables.
RESULTS: When compared with the findings of prior research, the men in our cohort had normal levels of general anxiety and illness-specific anxiety and high prostate cancer-related HRQL. Age, trait anxiety and fear of recurrence (FoR) were significant predictors of prostate cancer-related HRQL; trait anxiety and FoR were significant predictors of total HRQL. Results should be interpreted in context of sample characteristics and the correlational design of the study.
CONCLUSIONS: Participants reported low levels of anxiety and high HRQL. Trait anxiety and FoR were significant predictors of both prostate cancer-related and total HRQL. The administration of a short trait-anxiety screening tool may help identify men with clinically significant levels of anxiety and those at risk of reduced HRQL.
Written by:
Anderson J, Burney S, Brooker JE, Ricciardelli LA, Fletcher JM, Satasivam P, Frydenberg M. Are you the author?
School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Cabrini Monash Psycho-oncology, Cabrini Institute, Cabrini Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Reference: BJU Int. 2014 Jul 28. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1111/bju.12765
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25070423
UroToday.com Prostate Cancer Section
