Moderators of an uncertainty management intervention: for men with localized prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND
The effectiveness of psycho-educational interventions for cancer patients is well documented, but less is known about moderating characteristics that determine which subgroups of patients are most likely to benefit.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine whether certain individual characteristics of African-American and White men with localized prostate cancer moderated the effects of a psycho-educational Uncertainty Management Intervention on the outcomes of cancer knowledge and patient-provider communication


METHODS
Men were blocked by ethnicity and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Uncertainty Management Intervention provided to the patient only, Uncertainty Management Intervention supplemented by delivery to the patient and family member, or usual care. The individual characteristics explored were education, sources for information, and intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity.


RESULTS
Using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, findings indicated that there were no significant moderator effects for intrinsic religiosity on any of the outcomes. Lower level of education was a significant moderator for improvement in cancer knowledge. For the outcome of patient-provider communication, fewer sources for cancer information was a significant moderator for the amount told the patient by the nurse and other staff. Less extrinsic religiosity was a significant moderator for three areas of patient provider communication. The three areas are the amount (a) the physician tells the patient; (b) the patient helps with planning treatment; and (c) the patient tells the physician.


CONCLUSIONS
Testing for moderator effects provides important information regarding beneficiaries of interventions. In the current study, men's levels of education, amount of sources for information, and extrinsic religiosity influenced the efficacy of the Uncertainty Management Intervention on important outcomes.
Mishel
Merle H
MH
School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, USA. mishel@email.unc.edu
Germino
Barbara B
BB
Belyea
Michael
M
Stewart
Janet L
JL
Bailey
Donald E
DE
Mohler
James
J
Robertson
Cary
C
D001741:Black or African American; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011340:Problem Solving; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011584:Psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D044465:White People