A Measure of Health-Related Quality of Life Among Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer: Results from Ongoing Scale Development

Background

We revised our prostate cancer–specific measure to better address the physiologic complications of the 3 major therapies for clinically localized prostate cancer and to assess the impact of symptoms on broader aspects of patient functioning. The study used a crosssectional design, and participants completed the measure in a clinical setting.

Patients and Methods

Participants underwent radical prostatectomy (n = 130), external beam radiation therapy (n = 120), or brachytherapy (n = 129). Their mean age was 66 years (standard deviation [SD], 8.2 years), and the median time since treatment was 12.36 months (mean, 21.7; SD, 25.4). Items were derived from previously validated instruments or developed based on the clinical experience of a multidisciplinary group of health professionals.

Results

The revised instrument included 46 items that formed 8 physiologic scales (2 urinary, 3 sexual, and 3 bowel function); 3 associated bother scales; and cancer worry, treatment regret, and treatment satisfaction scales. Correlations among scales provided evidence of convergent/divergent validity. Significant group differences were found using analysis of covariance (with time since treatment and age as covariates) on 6 of the 8 physiologic scales and on bowel bother and treatment satisfaction.

Conclusion

The instrument provides a sensitive measure of physiologic differences across the 3 primary treatment groups and indicates that there are few differences across treatment groups on broader aspects of health-related quality of life. Further development of the measure is recommended.