Distress and Generalized Self-Efficacy During Treatment Decision Making in Localized Prostate Cancer
Jenny Xu, Erin K. Tagai, Suzanne M. Miller
Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States. Treatment decision making for prostate cancer poses unique challenges, requiring patients to learn new terminology and manage distress. Individuals with low self-efficacy often struggle with decision making. To improve the treatment decision making process for prostate cancer, this study aims to identify predictors of self-efficacy in prostate cancer patients before treatment that can be integrated into decision making tools.
Localized prostate cancer patients (N=99) were recruited before a treatment decision making appointment to complete a questionnaire assessing demographics, medical comorbidities, health literacy, distress, and generalized self-efficacy. Multivariable linear regression analysis was completed to identify predictors of generalized self-efficacy.
Patients were predominantly Non-Hispanic White (74.7%), married (65.7%), had income over $70,000 (48.4%), and had a mean age of 63. Patients had high burden of comorbid disease (M=19.85, SD=0.182) and high levels of health literacy (M=12.8, SD=0.235). Higher levels of distress were associated with lower generalized self-efficacy (p=.011). Health literacy was not significantly associated with generalized self-efficacy (p=.375).
A prostate cancer diagnosis poses multiple challenges for patients, which may impact self-efficacy during the treatment decision making process. Our findings demonstrate high levels of distress are negatively associated with self-efficacy. However, we did not find a relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy. This may be due to our study populations’ demographics and should be further investigated. Additionally, future research is needed to explore the association between distress and self-efficacy to identify mechanisms for targeted interventions for prostate cancer patients.
Email questions and comments about this abstract to Jenny.Xu@fccc.edu.
