Prostate cancer is the most common invasive cancer in gay and bisexual men (GBM). Despite the unique sexual and urinary concerns of this group, studies of prostate cancer rehabilitation have primarily focused on heterosexual men. GBM also have high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which may be associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We examined the association between HIV status and HRQOL in a cohort of GBM with prostate cancer.
Data from the Restore study, a cross-sectional online survey of GBM treated for prostate cancer, were used to examine this association. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) assessed function, bother, and summary measures in four domains: urinary, sexual, bowel, and hormone. Overall physical and mental HRQOL was assessed using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Multivariate analysis of variance and linear regression were used to evaluate the association between HIV status and HRQOL scores after adjustment for demographic and sexual characteristics.
Of 192 participants, 24 (12.4%) reported an HIV diagnosis. After adjustment for covariates, HIV-positive status was associated with lower scores on the EPIC urinary (Mean Difference (MD): -13.0, 95% CI: -21.4, -4.6), sexual (MD: -12.5, 95% CI: -21.9, -3.2), and bowel (MD: -5.9, 95% CI: -11.7, -0.2) domains. No significant associations were observed between HIV-status and other outcomes.
HIV status may be associated with poorer urinary, sexual, and bowel HRQOL in GBM prostate cancer survivors.
Psycho-oncology. 2019 Sep 13 [Epub ahead of print]
Elizabeth J Polter, Christopher W Wheldon, B R Simon Rosser, Nidhi Kohli, Benjamin D Capistrant, Aditya Kapoor, Badrinath Konety, Darryl Mittledorf, Michael Ross, Kristine M C Talley, Loren Terveen, William West, Morgan M Wright
Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota., Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute., Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota., School of Social Work, Smith College., Department of Urology, University of Minnesota., Malecare Cancer Support., Department of Family Medicine, Medical School, University of Minnesota., School of Nursing, University of Minnesota., Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota., Department of Writing Studies, University of Minnesota.