Gesundheitsprobleme nach radikaler Prostatektomie

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is one of the most common therapeutic strategies for treating localized prostate cancer (PCa). Currently, the significance of postoperative functional limitations for affected patients in the long-term course, especially in comparison to age-related comorbidities, is unclear.

The aim of this study was to quantify the prevalence of subjective health restrictions alongside functional deficits in long-term PCa survivors after RP and their relevance for subjective impairments in everyday life.

Using the German version of the Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire (SCQ-D), 3173 long-term survivors after RP reported their comorbidities in 13 predefined categories and in 3 free-text fields along the dimensions “problem,” “treatment,” and “impairment”.

The mean age at survey was 79.5 years (standard deviation, SD ± 6.4), with a mean time since RP of 17.4 years (SD ± 3.7). The three most frequently identified comorbidities/percentage of patients who felt impaired were: hypertension (62.2%/8.5%), back pain (44.1%/54.5%), and osteoarthritis (36.1%/54.1%). The most frequently mentioned additional health problems can be subsumed under the umbrella term “urological problems” (6.1%/72.7%): incontinence (4.8%/74.3%), bladder problems (1.1%/61.8%), and erectile dysfunction (0.5%/47.1%).

In summary, non-cancer-related comorbidities in the long-term course after RP are often perceived as “problems” but rarely lead to subjective impairment. In contrast, treatment-related urological problems are rarely reported as “problems”, but they very often lead to subjective impairment in everyday life.