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How effective are psychosocial interventions for men with prostate cancer in improving quality of life (QoL), self-efficacy and knowledge, and in reducing distress, uncertainty and depression?
Psychosocial interventions may have small, short-term beneficial effects on certain domains of wellbeing, as measured by the physical component of general health-related (GH) QoL and cancer-related QoL, when compared with usual care. Prostate cancer knowledge also increased. However, there was no statistically significant effect on other domains, such as symptom-related QoL, self-efficacy, uncertainty, distress or depression. Moreover, when beneficial effects were observed, it remained uncertain whether the magnitude of effect was large enough to be considered clinically important.
The quality of evidence for most outcomes was rated as very low, reflecting study limitations, loss to follow-up, study heterogeneity and small sample sizes. Differences in type, content, format, delivery, frequency, duration and quantity of the interventions, as well as differences in the stage of prostate cancer among participants and the lack of detailed figures related to treatment modalities, in particular androgen deprivation therapy, restrict the generalisability of these findings.
As the incidence and prevalence of prostate cancer continue to rise, the number of men needing help and support to assist them in coping with disease and treatment-related symptoms and their psychosocial effects is likely to increase. Health professionals often provide interventions to address these issues.
Parahoo K et al. Psychosocial interventions for men with prostate cancer. Cochrane Reviews, 2013, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD008529.DOI: 10.1002/14651858. CD008529.pub3. This review contains 19 studies involving 3204 participants.
Cochrane Systematic Reviews for primary care practitioners
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Otolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon Francis T. Hall discusses the evaluation of thyroid nodules, which primarily aims to determine the likelihood of malignancy. He then reviews the treatment of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, including recent advances in management
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