None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The most substantial long term morbidity from prostate cancer is sexual dysfunction with consequent adverse changes in couple and intimate relationships. Research to date has not identified an effective way to improve sexual and psychosocial adjustment for both men with prostate cancer and their partners. As well, the efficacy and cost effectiveness of peer counselling as opposed to professional models of service delivery has not yet been empirically tested. Proscan for Couples is a randomised control trial of a couples-based intervention that targets the specific challenges couples experience at diagnosis of localised prostate cancer and after radical prostatectomy. Intervention components include psycho-education; cognitive behavioural strategies; couple relationship education focussed on relationship enhancement and helping the couple to conjointly manage the stresses of cancer diagnosis and treatment; and specific psychosexual education and sexual communication. An audiovisual DVD resource supports the intervention that can be delivered with peer or nurse counselling. We will evaluate the efficacy of this intervention in a three arm randomised controlled trial comparing (1) usual care; (2) eight sessions of peer-delivered telephone support with the audiovisual resource; and (3) eight sessions of oncology nurse-delivered telephone counselling with the audiovisual resource. The trial will involve 210 couples with 70 couples in each condition (420 participants in total).
Interventions
Sexuality intervention DVD plus 8 sessions of telephone support by peer support volunteers (ie peers who have previously been treated for prostate cancer); or Sexuality intervention DVD plus 8 telephone-based sessions of counselling by prostate cancer nurse counsellors. In each intervention condition telephone calls will begin immediately after randomisation to intervention group and will continue until 6 months post-surgery: two telephone support/counselling sessions will be conducted prior to
Sexuality intervention DVD plus 8 sessions of telephone support by peer support volunteers (ie peers who have previously been treated for prostate cancer); or Sexuality intervention DVD plus 8 telephone-based sessions of counselling by prostate cancer nurse counsellors. In each intervention condition telephone calls will begin immediately after randomisation to intervention group and will continue until 6 months post-surgery: two telephone support/counselling sessions will be conducted prior to the male participant's surgery for prostate cancer and six sessions following surgery. Each support/counselling call will be approximately 1 hour in duration. Both intervention conditions will also receive a package of supporting materials including tipsheets and worksheets and an evidence-based patient education booklet about sexual function after treatment that was written by the present research team and that has national endorsement by Andrology Australia. The patient materials will be sent to participants immediately after randomisation to the intervention conditions.
Sponsors
Cancer Council Queensland
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Patients/couples must be newly diagnosed with localised prostate cancer, chosen radical prostatectomy as treatment, be in a heterosexual relationship, living with partner, no previous head injury or dementia, able to read and write English, not undergoing treatment for another cancer, not receiving current psychological or psychiatric care, score 80 or more on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale
Exclusion criteria
Patients/couples with prostate cancer recurrence or progression, advanced prostate cancer, chosen treatment apart from radical prostatectomy, in homosexual couple relationship, partners living apart, previous head injury or dementia, unable to read and write English, undergoing treatment for another cancer, currently receiving psychological or psychiatric care, scored less than 80 on the Dydadic Adjustment Scale.
Outcome results
None listed