Higher levels of anxiety in men who undergo surgical removal of prostate cancer appear to be linked to poor sexual satisfaction and depression, say researchers. A recent Mayo Clinic study determined that men who experience high levels of “cancer-specific anxiety” within 1 year of surgery for prostate cancer could likely benefit from counseling for anxiety, depression, and to improve their quality of life.
“Anxiety about a cancer diagnosis can lead to increased depressive symptoms and an inability to enjoy life’s activities, including sexual relations,” according to the senior investigator, Alexander Parker, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and urology.
“The 10-year survival for a man undergoing surgery to remove localized prostate cancer is greater than 95%. Given that the majority of men who undergo prostatectomy for prostate cancer will not die from their disease, we are concerned about what life will be like for these patients decades after diagnosis and treatment,” says Parker.
Although other studies involving patients with other cancer types have shown that anxiety can significantly affect an individual’s quality of life, “Our study is the first to specifically show that those men with higher cancer-specific anxiety 1 year after surgery for prostate cancer are more likely to report lower levels of satisfaction with their sex life and higher levels of depressive symptoms,” Parker says.
Published in the online edition of Psycho-Oncology, the study included findings on 365 men who underwent surgery for prostate cancer 1 year prior. All participants completed a questionnaire designed to measure anxiety levels about their diagnosis of and treatment for prostate cancer. Additional questionnaires to measure levels of erectile function, sexual satisfaction, and depression were also completed by the men.
Study results revealed that men who reported high levels of anxiety are more likely to experience low sexual satisfaction and a high rate of depression symptoms. “What is interesting from the sexual health standpoint is we observed that anxiety was not linked to poor erectile function per se but was linked to low levels of sexual satisfaction,” Parker says.
Although researchers note that anxiety was higher in those men who had more aggressive forms of prostate cancer, a number of men with nonaggressive cancer also conveyed very high levels of anxiety.
“This presents a great opportunity for identifying these men and offering intervention aimed at modifying this anxious behavior,” Parker says.
Source: Mayo Clinic.