Education practices in prostate cancer: A comparison of patient and caregiver experiences

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 34; no. 3_suppl; p. 88
• Main Authors: Allen, John Clayton, Du, Liping, Ahmed, Ivy A, Morgans, Alicia Katherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20.01.2016
• ISSN: 0732-183X; 1527-7755
• DOI: 10.1200/jco.2016.34.3_suppl.88

Abstract only 88 Background: Evidence suggests that greater knowledge of an illness is associated with better health outcomes, and interventions that enhance disease-specific knowledge can improve these outcomes. Information needs among prostate cancer survivors and their caregivers are incompletely described. We assessed information needs and practices among men with prostate cancer and prostate cancer caregivers at the time of diagnosis. Methods: Using the online “Prostate Cancer Education Survey” performed by prostate cancer non-profit ZERO completed 2013-2014, we evaluated 824 patients with prostate cancer and 168 prostate cancer caregivers to determine information needs regarding prostate cancer. We used Pearson chi-squared tests and multivariable logistic regression models to determine educational needs and experiences among patients and caregivers, and their association with clinical and sociodemographic factors. Results: Among 824 patients and 168 caregivers describing information received at diagnosis, statistically significantly fewer caregivers reported receiving information as compared with patients (79% of patients vs 71% of caregivers; p = 0.002). Among 543 patients and 98 caregivers who reported receiving information, patients were more likely to report that the information was more useful, and caregivers were more likely to report that the information was less useful on a five-point usefulness scale (p = 0.05). Only time since diagnosis was significantly associated with report of receipt of educational material at diagnosis for both patients and caregivers (p < .001) in multivariable regressions. Conclusions: Although most patients and caregivers report receiving prostate cancer information when diagnosed, caregivers report this less frequently, and more frequently report that it was not useful. Efforts to address this disparity should further investigate the information needs of prostate cancer caregivers to provide them with more consistent and useful information.