The fears of men in a prostate cancer support group: A pilot study

Abstract

18616 Background: Little is published on prostate cancer patients’ fears and the effectiveness of interventional strategies. Methods: A 20-item questionnaire addressing various potential fears was administered to 30 men in a local prostate cancer support group: 15 had undergone curative therapy and were NED, and 15 had recurrent disease on androgen suppression. Level of fear for each question was rated from 1 to 5. At a later date, a different questionnaire was administered to 10 men with recurrent disease, addressing the predominant fear previously identified—uncontrolled symptoms at the end of life—with 10 specific questions on this subject. This was followed by the intervention: a 90 minute group discussion, led by an MD boarded in Medical Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. To assess impact, the 10 item questionnaire on end of life symptoms was readministered immediately after the discussion, and again 2 months later. Results: a) Patients with recurrent disease expressed a greater degree of fear than those free of recurrence; b) A major fear of the future is of uncontrollable symptoms at end of life, and was more of a concern than death itself; c) Of the 7 (of 10 total) items that were most significant to the patients (mean score 2.9 or higher, scale 1–5), a mean drop of 0.7 was seen in the level of fear following the intervention; d) This was inconsistently sustained 2 months later, with some concerns lessened but others not. Conclusions: In this small pilot study of men with prostate cancer, there appeared to be some measurable impact on the level of fear following the group discussion, though inconsistently sustained; questionnaires such as this are feasible to administer and appear to encourage productive discussion of difficult issues in the support group setting. No significant financial relationships to disclose.