Psychological distress in Japanese men with localized prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate: (i) the level of psychological distress; and (ii) the relationships between the level of psychological distress and general or disease-specific HRQOL of Japanese men with localized prostate cancer following surgery or radiotherapy.


METHODS
The study was a retrospective cross-sectional survey of 253 men with localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy and 87 with external beam radiotherapy were collected. The measures used four questionnaires including: (i) the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Health Survey; (ii) The University of California, Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index; (iii) International Prostate Symptom Score; and (iv) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).


RESULTS
Mean anxiety and depression scores were 4.0 and 4.7, respectively (standard deviation, 3.3 and 3.7). On the anxiety section of HADS, 291 patients (85%) scored 7 points or less; and on the depression scale, 183 (54%) patients scored 4 points or less. Those 'cases' (HADS total, >10) with psychological distress scored lower in all domains of the general and disease related health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than the 'non-cases' (HADS total, <or=10) except for sexual domains. Logistic regression modeling suggested that the men who tended to experience moderate to high distress suffered from worse urinary and bowel symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Most patients who underwent radical prostatectomy or external beam radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer experienced low levels of psychological distress after treatment. However, men who were experiencing urinary and bowel symptoms tended to suffer from moderate to higher distress compared with men reporting no or fewer such symptoms.
Namiki
Shunichi
S
Department of Urology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. namikin@uro.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Saito
Seiichi
S
Tochigi
Tatsuo
T
Numata
Isao
I
Ioritani
Naomasa
N
Arai
Yoichi
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires