Longitudinal associations among quality of life and its predictors in patients treated for prostate cancer: The moderating role of age

Michael Diefenbach, Nihal Elamin Mohamed, Eric Horwitz, Alan Pollack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined moderating effects of age on longitudinal associations among quality of life (QOL) and its demographic (e.g., age), clinical [e.g., prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level], and affective and cognitive predictors (i.e., distress, worries about recurrence, decisional regret, subjective life expectancy) in prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiation (N=391). Demographic and clinical characteristics were assessed at diagnosis, affective and cognitive variables at 6 months after diagnosis, and QOL at 12 months after diagnosis. Multiple-group analyses showed that among younger patients (≤68 years old, n=199), lower levels of decisional regret were associated with better functional QOL, and lower Gleason scores and PSA levels were associated with lower levels of distress and longer expected survival time, respectively. Being employed was related to higher levels of functional QOL and frequent worries about recurrence. Among older patients (>68 years old, n=192), lower levels of distress were associated with higher levels of functional QOL, and longer expected survival time was associated with better functional and physical QOL.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)146-161
Number of pages16
JournalPsychology, Health and Medicine
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2008

Keywords

  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis
  • Cognition Disorders/epidemiology
  • Cost of Illness
  • Decision Making
  • Demography
  • Depressive Disorder/diagnosis
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prospective Studies
  • Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood
  • Prostatic Neoplasms/blood
  • Quality of Life/psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

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