The psychosocial impact of prostate cancer on patients and their partners.

Objective: To assess the psychosocial impact of the diagnosis of either localised or metastatic prostate cancer (PCA) on patients and their female partners.

Design: Observational, prospective study at Time 1 and 6 months later at Time 2 of two groups of couples facing PCA. Time 1 was when patients were first diagnosed with histologically confirmed localised (potentially curable) PCA or metastatic (incurable) PCA.

Main Outcome Measures: Depression and anxiety disorders according to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 4th edition (DSM-IV); psychological distress; marital satisfaction.

Results: At Time 1, partners had rates of DSM-IV major depression and generalised anxiety disorder twice those of women in the Australian community, and considerably higher than the patients' rates. At Time 2, psychological distress in partners had lessened but that in patients had increased. On the other hand, at Time 2, partners' marital satisfaction had deteriorated.

Conclusions: To be fully effective, interventions aimed at reducing the psychosocial morbidity of PCA must involve both patient and partner, rather than the patient alone.