Psychological distress in men with prostate cancer and their partners before and after cancer diagnosis: a longitudinal study

To examine the relative risk of psychological distress of men with prostate cancer and their partners during the period before and after prostate cancer diagnosis compared with men without prostate cancer and their partners.

The participants reported questionnaires on psychological distress at four time points: before prostate cancer biopsy, and at 1, 3 and 6 months following prostate cancer diagnosis. We performed multiple logistic regression analyses to examine the relative risk of psychological distress.

A total of 115 couples answered the questionnaires at all four time points. Men with prostate cancer showed a significantly higher risk of psychological distress compared to men without prostate cancer at 1 (odds ratio [OR] = 4.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.9-13.1), 3 (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.1-10.2) and 6 months following prostate cancer diagnosis (OR = 6.9, 95% CI = 2.3-25.7). Their partners showed a significantly higher risk of psychological distress compared to the partners of men without prostate cancer at 1 month following prostate cancer diagnosis (OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.1-6.6).

Men with prostate cancer showed psychological distress during the 6 months following the cancer diagnosis. Their partners also showed psychological distress at 1 month following the cancer diagnosis. Inviting both men with prostate cancer and their partners to speak to their concerns, empathizing with them, finding the solutions together and monitoring of their psychological status regularly should be regarded as important following prostate cancer diagnosis.

Japanese journal of clinical oncology. 2017 May 15 [Epub ahead of print]

Akira Oba, Naoki Nakaya, Kumi Saito-Nakaya, Masaru Hasumi, Hiroyuki Takechi, Seiji Arai, Nobuaki Shimizu

Patient Support Center, Gunma Prefectural Cancer Center, Ota, Gunma., Division of Personalized Prevention and Epidemiology, Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi., Department of Behavioral Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi., Department of Urology, Gunma Prefectural Cancer Center, Ota, Gunma., Annaka Health and Welfare Office, Annaka, Gunma., Department of Urology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan.