Sociodemographic Characteristics And Health Related Quality of Life in Men Attending Prostate Cancer Support Groups

Abstract

Men enrolled in support groups have unique sociodemographic characteristics. Their health related quality of life appears to be better than that of other men with prostate cancer. Whether this is related to support group participation is not known. Additional studies are required to determine whether routine support group participation improves outcomes in men with prostate cancer.

Cancer support group participation in the United Kingdom: a national survey

“…Previous studies in the UK [14,15,18] indicated that participants of support groups are typically female, white, with high education and socioeconomic status. Research from other countries such as the USA [12,13,32], Canada [10] and Australia [33] have produced similar findings.…”

“…There were tendencies for more participants than non-participants to be female, younger and further away from diagnosis and have higher educational attainment and socioeconomic status. Existing social support or degree of distress did not reliably predict attendance at groups [8,10,12].…”

“…Similar findings have been reported previously. Health-related quality of life scores were higher for men attending prostate cancer support groups than a sample of men enrolled in a national prostate cancer registry [12], and Grande et al [18] reported greater use of adaptive coping strategies among support group members than a random sample from a cancer registry. Taylor et al [13] noted that support group members made greater use of other informal and formal support services than non-members and questioned whether such groups attracted individuals whose support needs are already likely to be met.…”

“…Comparisons of the characteristics of support group participants and non-participants reveal few significant differences in terms of demographic or medical variables [8,10,12,13]. There were tendencies for more participants than non-participants to be female, younger and further away from diagnosis and have higher educational attainment and socioeconomic status.…”

Prostate cancer support groups, health literacy and consumerism: Are community-based volunteers re-defining older men’s health?

“…Since the 1990s, many prostate cancer support groups (PCSGs) have formed to offer men information and education, assistance with decision making, and peer-networking (Coreil and Ravish, 1999;Gray et al, 1996Gray et al, , 1997Gray et al, , 2000aManne, 2002;Prostate Cancer Canada Network, 2010;Steginga et al, 2001). There is evidence that PCSGs are especially useful in mitigating the psychosocial aspects of cancer by conveying information, empowering patients, enhancing and facilitating men's adjustment, and helping patients cope with life after a diagnosis and treatment of cancer (Cordova et al, 2003;Evans and Connis, 1995;Fawzy et al, 1990;Katz et al, 2002;Manne, 2002;Sharp and Aviv, 1996;Spiegel et al, 1981;Steginga et al, 2001). However, the specificities of what underpins such benefits are poorly understood, and we decided to formally examine attendees' interactions and practices around health literacy and consumerism.…”