Satisfaction with Care Among Men with Localised Prostate Cancer: A Nationwide Population-based Study.

Information about how men with prostate cancer (PC) experience their medical care and factors associated with their overall satisfaction with care (OSC) is limited.

To investigate OSC and factors associated with OSC among men with low-risk PC.

Men registered in the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden as diagnosed in 2008 with low-risk PC at the age of ≤70 yr who had undergone radical prostatectomy (RP), radiotherapy (RT), or started on active surveillance (AS) were invited in 2015 to participate in this nationwide population-based survey (n=1720).

OSC data were analysed using ordinal logistic regression. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for comparisons between the highest and lowest possible response categories.

A total of 1288 men (74.9%) responded. High OSC was reported by 958 (74.4%). Factors associated with high OSC were high participation in decision-making (OR 4.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.61-6.69), receiving more information (OR 11.1, 95% CI 7.97-15.6), high-quality information (OR 7.85, 95% CI 5.46-11.3), access to a nurse navigator (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.44-2.26), and better functional outcomes (defined as 25 points higher on the EPIC-26 questionnaire; OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.21-1.48). OSC was not affected by whether a doctor or specialist nurse conducted follow-up (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.66-1.07). These findings were similar across treatment groups. Men who had undergone RP or RT reported high OSC more often than men on AS (78.2% vs 84.0% vs 72.6%), high participation in decision-making (70.5% vs 64.5% vs 49.2%), and having received more information (40.5% vs 45.8% vs 28.6%), and were less likely to believe they would die from PC (3.8% vs 3.9% vs 8.0%). Limitations include the nonrandomised retrospective design and potential recall bias.

Information and participation in decision-making, as well as access to a nurse navigator, are key factors for OSC, regardless of treatment. Men on AS need more information about their treatment and need to participate more in decision-making. OSC was as high among men who had nurse-led follow-up as among men who had doctor-led follow-up.

Information about how men with low-risk prostate cancer experience their medical care is limited. In this nationwide population-based study we found that information and participation in decision-making as well as access to a nurse navigator are key factors for satisfaction regardless of treatment. Men who are being closely watched for prostate cancer without immediate curative treatment need more information than they now receive and need to participate more in decision-making than they currently do.

European urology oncology. 2018 May 15 [Epub]

Oskar Bergengren, Hans Garmo, Ola Bratt, Lars Holmberg, Eva Johansson, Anna Bill-Axelson

Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: ., Regional Cancer Centre Uppsala Örebro, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden., Department of Urology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden., Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.