Psychosocial Longitudinal Study Profile and Distress of Couples in Relation to the Conduct of Prostate Biopsy

Abstract

Objective: Partners of prostate cancer patients have been reported to suffer from high levels of psychological distress, although there are few reports of the changes in their distress levels observed before and after the diagnosis and the factors influencing them. This study constructed a longitudinal psychosocial database of prostate cancer biopsy subjects and their partners. This paper describes a summary of the database and the nature and severity of the psychological distress and cancer-related worry. Methods: We distributed self-administered questionnaires to subjects scheduled for a prostate cancer biopsy and their partners on four occasions: prior to the biopsy, and 1, 3 and 6 months after being informed whether the diagnosis was cancer or not. The questionnaires included questions pertaining to the psychological distress, cancer-related worry and correlational factors. Results: Of the 240 couples who agreed to participate in the database project, 184 couples completed the first and second surveys; thus, the database consists of them. While no significant differences in the levels of psychological distress were found among the participants before the biopsy, the prostate cancer patients and their partners had significantly higher levels of psychological distress as compared with the non-prostate cancer patients at 1 month after being informed whether the diagnosis was cancer or not. Conclusions: This study constructed a longitudinal psychosocial database of prostate cancer biopsy subjects and their partners. Our findings suggest that partners of prostate cancer patients might experience a similar psychological impact to the prostate cancer patients before and after the diagnosis.

Psychological Distress among Individuals Whose Partners Have Cancer

“…However, men whose partners had cancer with pain did have a higher risk of psychological distress, whereas men whose partners had cancer but no pain did not show a higher risk. Earlier studies showed that participants whose partners have cancer were more likely to have negative psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety (Kornblith et al 1994;Toseland et al 1995;Nijboer et al 2001;Baider et al 2003;Bishop et al 2007;Rhee et al 2008;Sjovall et al 2009;Nakaya et al , 2016bMoser et al 2013;Oba et al 2014). Thus, our results differ from those of these earlier studies.…”

“…They found that spouse's hospitalization greatly contributed to the risk of mortality in both men and women, making it clear that the hospitalization of a spouse has serious adverse health effects. Furthermore, there have been many epidemiological studies on the mental problems of partners of cancer patients (Kornblith et al 1994;Toseland et al 1995;Nijboer et al 2001;Baider et al 2003;Bishop et al 2007;Rhee et al 2008;Sjövall et al 2009;Nakaya et al , 2016bMoser et al 2013;Oba et al 2014). Nakaya et al (2010) reported that men whose partners were diagnosed with breast cancer had an increased risk of being hospitalized with an affective disorder, and the risk showed a dose-response relationship with the severity of breast cancer.…”

“…In Japan, there have been a few reports indicating that the partners of patients with cancer have an increased risk of psychological distress compared with control groups. Problematically, however, these studies relied on small sample sizes (number of partners of cancer patients = 72 (Nakaya et al 2016b) to 99 (Oba et al 2014)). …”

Prostate cancer‐specific anxiety and the resulting health‐related quality of life in couples

“…People with early‐stage prostate cancer have a 99% 5‐year survival rate (American Cancer Society, ). Nevertheless, a confirmed diagnosis of prostate cancer psychologically affects not only people but also their spouses (Chien, Chuang, Liu, Huang, & Liu, ; Chien et al., ; Lehto, Aromaa, & Tammela, ; Tanner, Galbraith, & Hays, ), including their having concerns about prostate disease, side effects and complications of treatment, death from prostate cancer and cancer recurrence during the disease process (Oba et al., ; Tanner et al., ; van de Wal et al., , ), more so for spouses of people with prostate cancer than people with cancer themselves (Oba et al., ). Further, the suicide rate of newly diagnosed people with cancer is 2.47 times higher than that of the general population (Lin et al., ).…”

“…complications of treatment, death from prostate cancer and cancer recurrence during the disease process (Oba et al, 2014;Tanner et al, 2011;van de Wal et al, 2016van de Wal et al, , 2017, more so for spouses of people with prostate cancer than people with cancer themselves (Oba et al, 2014). Further, the suicide rate of newly diagnosed people with cancer is 2.47 times higher than that of the general population (Lin et al, 2017).…”