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Health-related quality of life in prostate cancer patients in the Silesian Province (Poland) before and after radical prostatectomy – a longitudinal observational pilot study

Introduction. In recent years, patient-reported outcomes have played an increasingly important role in the evaluation of the effectiveness of treatments as aspects of health-related quality of life (e.g. physical, emotional, and psychosocial), and are taken into account in the selection of treatment methods and complementary management (e.g. nursing care or physiotherapy). Objective . The aim of this pilot study was to assess changes in the health-related quality of life in a prostate cancer population before and 3 months after radical prostatectomy. The main motivation for the study is the small number of studies using validated tools to assess the quality of life of men in the Polish population suffering from prostate cancer. Materials and method . The study concerned 31 newly-diagnosed prostate cancer patients who qualified for radical prostatectomy. Quality of life assessment was performed twice – first before surgery, and then 3 months afterwards – using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-PR25 questionnaires. Results . Comparison of baseline and 3-month follow-up results revealed significant deteriorations in patients’ quality of life across various domains, with the clinically and statistically most significant changes being observed on the emotional, social, and role functioning scales. Conclusions. Radical prostatectomy contributed to decreased quality of life 3 months postoperatively. The psychosocial domains of the quality of life are more strongly affected than the physical domains.