QUALITY-OF-LIFE 12 MONTHS AFTER RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

Objective To evaluate the impact of radical prostatectomy (RP) upon qu ality of life (QOL) in patients with prostate cancer. Patients and met hods Seventy-nine patients with prostate cancer were recruited to eval uate the impact of RP upon QOL. The patients comprised two groups: the first group (n = 51) was evaluated 12 months or longer after RP; and the second group (n = 28) was evaluated 1 month prior to RP. All patie nts completed two previously reported QOL measures: the Functional Liv ing Index Cancer (FLIC) and Profile of Mood States (POMS), and a serie s of questions which evaluated bladder, bowel and sexual function. Res ults Comparison of patients before RP with those after RP at 12 month follow-up revealed significant (P<0.05) deterioration in sexual functi on, continence and hardship scores following RP while tension scores i mproved significantly. Although 10 other subscale parameters were anal ysed, no other differences were observed. Of the 51 post-RP patients, 46 (90%) stated that given a choice they would have their surgery agai n. Conclusion The results reported show that RP has minimal overall im pact upon patient QOL. Although minimal voiding and bowel dysfunction was reported, many patients were dissatisfied with post-operative sexu al function.