Survivorship After Prostate Cancer Treatment: Spouses' Quality of Life at 36 Months

Abstract

Purpose/Objectives: To determine the long-term effects of prostate cancer treatment on spouse quality of life (QOL) at 36 months following treatment. Design: Descriptive-exploratory; community-based study. Setting: Telephone interviews. Sample: 95 female spouses of men treated for early-stage prostate cancer. Methods: A computer-assisted telephone interview was used to evaluate QOL among spouses of prostate cancer survivors at 36 months after initial prostate cancer treatment. Main Research Variables: Quality of life, dyadic adjustment, sexual satisfaction, appraisal of caregiving, and demographic information. Findings: Spouses who had more negative appraisal of caregiving had lower sexual satisfaction, poorer cancer-specific QOL, and poorer mental QOL. Spouses who perceived bother related to the patient’s sexual or hormone function reported more threatening appraisals of caregiving, less sexual satisfaction, and poorer QOL. Conclusions: Spouses continued to experience negative appraisal of caregiving, which affected QOL 36 months after their husbands’ treatment for prostate cancer. Additional studies related to factors that influence spouse QOL during survivorship will help guide clinical practice. Implications for Nursing: Healthcare providers must help spouses find strategies that promote positive coping and lessen negative appraisal. Giving caregivers information early in the treatment process will help them understand what to expect over time. Supporting caregivers and helping them manage stress will enhance QOL during survivorship. Knowledge Translation: Spouses who experienced more bother related to urinary, sexual, and hormonal function experience more stress and worse QOL at 36 months post-treatment. Spouse appraisal can have a significant effect on QOL. Offering counseling to couples following treatment for prostate cancer may improve QOL by helping couples manage relationship intimacy.

The health‐related quality of life of patients with prostate cancer and their spouses before treatment compared with the general population

“…Potential changes in the quality of life might come forth in longitudinal studies of patients with prostate cancer and their spouses. Previous longitudinal studies have identified that spouses' quality of life is associated with their spouses' patient treatments for prostate cancer, especially if these patients report many side effects of their treatment (Green et al, ; Harden et al, ). Our findings show that patients experienced mildly higher physical functioning, emotional well‐being, and painlessness than spouses.…”

“…The RAND‐36 is an internationally used instrument in measuring the HRQOL of patients with prostate cancer and their spouses (Cary et al, ; Dieperink et al, ; Harden et al, ; Treiyer, Anheuser, Butow, & Steffens, ; Vasarainen et al, ). In international surveys on patients with prostate cancer, the coefficients have been over 0.88 (Harden et al, , ). The reliability of the instrument has been tested in Finland, with Cronbach α coefficients for internal consistency at 0.80 to 0.94 (Aalto et al, ).…”

Cognitive-Behavioral Coping, Illness Perception, and Family Adaptability in Oncological Patients with a Family History of Cancer

“…Another study about long-term effects of cancer treatment, performed on the wives of oncological patients, reported a similar level of distress and negative consequences of the diagnosis and intervention on intrafamilial interactions, changes in family roles and communication difficulties, just as in families without a history of cancer [11], families with a history of cancer who were able to act openly, to express feelings directly, to manage problems effectively, and to communicate information directly within the family, had lower levels of depression and anxiety.…”

Couple‐focused interventions for men with localized prostate cancer and their spouses: A randomized clinical trial

“…Between 15% and 18% of patients report elevated depressive symptoms, and between 15% and 27% report elevated anxiety (e.g., Cliff & MacDonagh, 2000;Trinchieri, Nicola, Masini, & Mangiarotti, 2005). Spouse quality of life also declines, particularly among spouses reporting greater bother from the patient's urinary and sexual side effects (Harden, Sanda, Wei, & Northouse, 2013). Spouse depression and anxiety are also higher than the general population (e.g., Couper et al, 2006;Eton, Lepore, & Helgeson, 2005; Winters-Stone, Lyons, Bennett, & Beer, 2014)).…”