Facilitating research participation and improving quality of life for African American prostate cancer survivors and their intimate partners. A pilot study of telephone-based coping skills training.

African American men experience worse prostate cancer outcomes compared with those of Caucasian men, not only in incidence and mortality rates, but also in coping with the side effects of treatment. Unfortunately, African American men have been significantly under-represented in research evaluating the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for improving coping in prostate cancer survivors. This pilot study explored the feasibility and efficacy of coping skills training (CST), an intervention developed to enhance coping with treatment side effects in a sample of African American prostate cancer survivors and their intimate partners.

Prostate cancer in African Americans: relationship of patient and partner self-efficacy to quality of life.

This study examined the relationship between patient and partner ratings of self-efficacy for symptom control and quality of life (QOL) among 40 African American prostate cancer survivors and their intimate partners. Data analyses revealed that cancer survivors who had rated their self-efficacy for symptom control higher reported better QOL related to urinary, bowel, and hormonal symptoms and better general health QOL (i.e.