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AGE DIFFERENCES IN QUALITY OF LIFE, SELF-EFFICACY, CURRENT CONCERNS, SYMPTOM DISTRESS, AND APPRAISAL OF ILLNESS/CAREGIVING IN COUPLES FACING PROSTATE CANCER
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2005 |
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| Prostate cancer affects men in all adult life stages, yet a life stage perspective has seldom been used to understand the impact of diagnosis and treatment on patients and partners quality of life outcomes. A diagnosis of prostate cancer requires that couples simultaneously adjust to the changes brought about by cancer as well as other normative changes specific to their age. The purpose of this study was twofold 1) to determine if the quality of life (QOL) of men with prostate cancer and their partners differs according to developmental stage 50-64 (late middle age); 65-74 (young old); and 75 and above (old-old), and 2) to determine if patients and partners self-efficacy, current stressors, symptom distress and appraisal of illness differs according to developmental stage. McCubbin and McCubbins Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation Framework (1993) guided this study; it focuses on the effect of normative (developmental stage) and non-normative stressors (illness) on the couples ability to adapt. Variables included influencing factors (age, concurrent stressors and self-efficacy) and illness factors, appraisal and quality of life for both the patient and his partner. A descriptive design was used to compare data obtained from 69 patients and their partners using secondary analysis. Dyads who completed baseline assessments from a large intervention study were stratified by age cohort and randomly selected for the study (n23 dyads per age cohort). Data were obtained using multiple standardized instruments with adequate reliability and validity. ANOVA and MANOVA were used to determine differences among age groups. Findings indicated that patients in the middle group (65-74) had a better physical and mental QOL and higher self-efficacy than the younger group; they also had less negative appraisal of illness than the other age groups. Partners in the middle group perceived less bother with hormonal symptoms than the other groups. Partners in the youngest age group reported the most disturbances with sexual changes in their husbands. Findings suggest that age does affect a couples response to a prostate cancer illness. Implications suggest that interventions need to be tailored to couples developmental stage. Funding sources: Intervention study funded by grant from NCI (R01 CA090739) to L. Northouse PI. |
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Primary Investigator
Janet Harden, PhD, RN
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P.I. Institution Name
Wayne State University
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Contact Address
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI
USA
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Secondary Investigators
Laurel Northouse, PhD, RN, FAAN; Bernadine Cimprich, PhD, RN, FAAN; Joanne Pohl, PhD, RN, FAAN; Jersey Liang, PhD; Trace Kershaw, PhD
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