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Health-related quality of life in long-term Caribbean prostate cancer survivors: comparisons with prostate cancer-free men

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Abstract

Purpose

Prostate cancer (PCa) and its treatment can impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There are few studies of HRQoL in long-term PCa survivors of African ancestry from low- and middle-income countries. We examined the effect of PCa treatment on HRQoL of Jamaican PCa survivors compared with cancer-free controls and explored the effect of demographic and clinical factors on these outcomes.

Methods

PCa survivors (n = 64) treated with and without ADT along with PCa-free controls (n = 88) from a case–control study of 10 years post enrolment. HRQoL was measured using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life (EORTC-QLQ-C30). Effects of demographic and clinical variables on HRQoL on PCa and type of therapy were evaluated in multivariable linear regression models.

Results

HRQoL of PCa survivors (overall and by treatment group) indicated a high quality of life, comparable to PCa-free men. However, ADT-treated survivors had lower physical functioning that was of small clinical relevance compared with those not on ADT. Symptom burden scores of PCa survivors and controls were similar excluding fatigue and dyspnoea which were highest in men on ADT and controls. In multivariable models, PCa was not an important determinant of overall HRQoL, functioning or symptom burdens. Underlying medical conditions and marital status were the main contributors to HRQoL in PCa survivors.

Conclusion

PCa cancer status was not an independent determinant of long-term HRQoL in Jamaican men. Interventions addressing social factors and comorbid illnesses could improve HRQOL in long-term PCa survivors.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Awards for Cancer in the Caribbean, a collaborative small grants program administered by Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) utilizing funds from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health & Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies, 3 Gibraltar Camp Way, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica

    Maria D. Jackson & Evelyn Walker

  2. Epidemiology Research Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica

    Marshall K. Tulloch-Reid

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  1. Maria D. Jackson
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Contributions

MDJ and MKT-R contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by MDJ, MKT-R and EW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MDJ and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria D. Jackson.

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Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of The University of the West Indies (Mona) (May 19, 2014 /ECP 155, 13/14).

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Jackson, M.D., Walker, E. & Tulloch-Reid, M.K. Health-related quality of life in long-term Caribbean prostate cancer survivors: comparisons with prostate cancer-free men. Qual Life Res 31, 3391–3401 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-022-03202-2

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