Preparedness for side effects and bother in symptomatic men after radical prostatectomy in a prospective, non-randomized trial

BACKGROUND:Many clinicians believe that preparedness before surgery for possible post-surgery side effects reduces the level of bother experienced from urinary incontinence and decreased sexual health after surgery. There are no published studies evaluating this belief. Therefore, we aimed to study the level of preparedness before radical prostatectomy and the level of bother experienced from urinary incontinence and decreased sexual health after surgery.MATERIAL AND METHODS:We prospectively collected data from a non-selected group of men undergoing radical prostatectomy in 14 centers between 2008 and 2011. Before surgery, we asked about preparedness for surgery-induced urinary problems and decreased sexual health. One year after surgery, we asked about bother caused by urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. As a measure of the association between preparedness and bothersomeness we modeled odds ratios (ORs) by means of logistic regression.RESULTS:Altogether 1372 men had urinary incontinence one year after surgery as well as had no urinary leakage or a small urinary dribble before surgery. Among these men, low preparedness was associated with bother resulting from urinary incontinence [OR 2.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.59-5.10]. In a separate analysis of 1657 men we found a strong association between preparedness for decreased sexual health and experiencing bother from erectile dysfunction (OR 5.92; 95% CI 3.32-10.55).CONCLUSION:In this large-sized prospective trial, we found that preparedness before surgery for urinary problems or sexual side effects decreases bother from urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction one year after surgery