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Decision‐making processes among men with low‐risk prostate cancer: A survey study
Author(s) -
Hoffman Richard M.,
Van Den Eeden Stephen K.,
Davis Kimberly M.,
Lobo Tania,
Luta George,
Shan Jun,
Aaronson David,
Penson David F.,
Leimpeter Amethyst D.,
Taylor Kathryn L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.4469
Subject(s) - prostate cancer , medicine , preference , radiation therapy , family medicine , gynecology , cancer , economics , microeconomics
Objective To characterize decision‐making processes and outcomes among men expressing early‐treatment preferences for low‐risk prostate cancer. Methods 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 χ 2 or ANOVA. Results 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. Conclusions 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.