Letters
Cancer Sexual health Social determinants of health
Volume 186 - Issue 3

The psychosocial impact of prostate cancer on patients and their partners

Author:  Jeremy W Couper

Med J Aust 2007; 186 (3): 159-160. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb00850.x
Published online: 5 February 2007
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In reply: We thank Smith et al for their acknowledgement of the importance of the relational dimension to understanding how prostate cancer (PCA) is understood and approached by men and their partners. The psychosocial implications of prostate cancer for same-sex couples are important and need specific investigation.

However, there are methodological difficulties in attempting to quantify the impact of PCA on same-sex couples and in comparing their experience with other couples. In our review of the literature,1 we discovered that where previous researchers had included same-sex partners in their studies, insufficient numbers were recruited for meaningful quantitative statistical comparisons. For example, Perez and colleagues,2 Neese and colleagues3 and Davison and colleagues4 each recruited only one same-sex couple into their studies of 134, 164 and 74 couples, respectively.

We believe that a qualitative approach is needed, specifically seeking out and examining the experiences of a group of same-sex couples and comparing and contrasting their experiences with those of a group of male–female couples. This is an approach we are considering in future studies to help us develop and refine an effective but broadly applicable couple-focused psychosocial intervention for PCA.

Author

  • Jeremy W Couper1
  • 1. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: couperjw@svhm.org.au

References

View this article on Wiley Online Library