Pretreatment depressive symptoms and treatment modality predict post-treatment disease-specific quality of life among patients with localized prostate cancer

Nihal E. Mohamed, Dana H. Bovbjerg, Guy H. Montgomery, Simon J. Hall, Michael A. Diefenbach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the prevalence of depressive symptoms before prostate cancer treatment and explores associations among pre-treatment depressive symptoms and post-treatment disease-specific QOL, controlling for treatment modality, and demographic and clinical covariates. Materials and methods: A case series of patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (T1-2N0M0) at a comprehensive cancer center was assessed. Of the 1,370 eligible patients, 869 (63.34%) completed questionnaires at diagnosis (baseline) and 6 months following treatment. Patients were treated with surgery (16.8%), brachytherapy (27.6%), or external beam radiation (EBRT; 55.6%). Depressive symptoms and disease-specific QOL were assessed with established measures (i.e., Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); sexual adjustment questionnaire (SAQ); and the American Urological Association symptom index). Results: A fifth of the sample (19.7%) reported clinically elevated levels of depressive symptoms at baseline. The proportion of clinically elevated levels of baseline depressive symptoms was higher among surgery patients compared with patients treated with brachytherapy or external beam radiation. Depressive symptoms at baseline and treatment modality significantly predicted sexual and urinary dysfunction, related bother, activity limitation due to urinary dysfunction at 6 months, controlling for, age, PSA level, Gleason score, relevant baseline indicators of sexual and urinary dysfunction, related bother, and activity limitation (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Pretreatment depressive symptoms and treatment modality predict QOL after PrCa treatment. Health care providers should be sensitive to the display of depressive symptoms before PrCa treatment and consider preventative interventions, including preparing patients for the changes in disease-specific QOL and related bother following prostate cancer treatment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)804-812
Number of pages9
JournalUrologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations
Volume30
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2012

Keywords

  • Depressive symptoms
  • Prostate cancer
  • Quality of life
  • Treatment modality

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