Prostate cancerInformation needs of early-stage prostate cancer patients: A comparison of nine countries
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer within the previous 3–24 months; the study was conducted in 2005–6. Additional eligibility criteria were: could read the survey in the language provided, and no cognitive or emotional problem, as judged by their physician.
Recruitment
Participants were recruited using one of two methods: (1) eligible patients identified from a database of positive prostate biopsies were mailed questionnaires with return-postage paid (Canada and England) or (2)
Participants
The number of participants in each country were: Canada – 130 (73% response rate), England – 113 (52%), Italy – 44 (72%), Germany – 58 (77%), Poland – 53 (76%), Portugal – 34 (45%), the Netherlands – 112 (48%), Spain – 49 (67%), and Turkey – 66 (75%).
Table 1 shows five patient characteristics of each country; the countries are organized according to the mean number of questions rated essential (described in detail in Country Comparisons below). There are some differences in the ages, education,
Discussion
This study was designed to identify the information needs of patients in participating countries using a single methodology so that the patients’ needs could be compared. In spite of differences among medical systems, cultures and languages, several observations are similar across the countries. First, on average, patients in each country identified between one-third and one-half of the questions as essential to be addressed. Second, the most frequent reason for the questions being essential
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Weidong Kong for his time, effort and expertise in the General Linear Mixed Modelling. We would also like to thank all patients who took the time to participate in the survey. Finally, funding for the study was provided by the Kingston General Hospital Foundation, which supported data entry for the whole project, and by the Prostate Cancer Charity UK which supported patient recruitment in London, UK.
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