Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2019

A systematic review of the unmet supportive care needs of men on active surveillance for prostate cancer. (#400)

Megan McIntosh 1 , Melissa Opozda 1 , Holly Evans 1 , Amy Finlay 1 , Daniel A Galvão 2 , Suzanne K Chambers 3 , Camille E Short 4
  1. School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  2. Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  3. Faculty of Health, University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  4. Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and Melbourne School of Health Sciences , University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Objective: Men on active surveillance for prostate cancer require ongoing supportive care, and identifying their unmet supportive care needs may assist in improving care, thereby improving wellbeing and adherence. We sought to identify the specific unmet supportive care needs of men on active surveillance.

 

Methods: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Databases (Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL), were searched to identify qualitative and quantitative studies which examined unmet needs specific to men on active surveillance. Quality appraisals were conducted before results were narratively synthesised.

 

Results: Of the 3,613 identified records, nine articles were eligible (six qualitative and three cross-sectional quantitative studies). Only four of the studies had a primary aim of investigating unmet supportive care needs, two of which exclusively examined men on active surveillance. Men reported unmet needs related to information (e.g., lack of information on active surveillance and future treatment), emotional/psychological needs (e.g., active surveillance-specific support groups), and social needs (e.g., desire to interact with other men on active surveillance). However, the extent and significance of these results is limited due to study quality issues, including a lack of controlled studies, small active surveillance samples, use of non-validated measures, and minimal reporting of author reflexivity in qualitative studies.

 

Conclusions: The unmet needs of men on active surveillance is an under-researched area. However, preliminary evidence suggests that active surveillance-related information available and provided to men is perceived as inadequate and inconsistent. While men also reported unmet psychological/emotional, social, and other needs, further representative and high-quality research is required to understand their magnitude. Future research in prostate cancer treatment outcomes may consider reporting results specific to treatment type. Additionally, future research may benefit from utilising appropriate theoretical models to ensure factors which may trigger unmet needs are appropriately considered and reported.