High levels of health-related quality of life five years after curative treatment of prostate cancer with HDR-brachytherapy and external beam radiation

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient characteristics for Cohort A and Cohort B.

Cohort	Cohort A	Cohort B
number, (%)	1046 (100)	158 (100)
Age at treatment
Median, year	66	68
Range	38–80	46–79
Comorbidity number, (%)
0	511 (50)	Not available
1–2	488 (46)
≥3	47 (4)
Hormonal treatment number, (%)	1017 (98)	158 (100)
PSA at diagnosis
Median	10	14
Range	1-110	2-116
T-stage number, (%)
T1-2	669 (64)	88 (56)
T2–T3	Not applicable	19 (12)
T3	375 (35)	51 (32)
T4	2 (1)
Gleason score number, (%)
≤6	378 (35)	Not applicable
3 + 4	341 (34)
4 + 3	191 (17)
8	94 (10)
9-10	42 (4)
WHO Grade number, (%)	Not applicable
WHO 1		54 (34)
WHO 2		84 (53)
WHO 3		20 (13)

Figure 1. a and b, EORTC QLQ-C30, Functional, symptom scales and single items, mean score. A comparison between Cohort A and an age-matched Swedish reference population (ref. population). Global health (GH), Physical functioning (PF), Role functioning (RF), Emotional functioning (EF), Cognitive functioning (CF), Social functioning (SF), Fatigue (FA), Nausea/vomiting (NV), Pain (PA), Dyspnoea (DY), Sleeping disturbances (SL), Loss of appetite (AP), Constipation (CO), Diarrhoea (DI), Financial difficulties (FI).

Table 2. EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25 HRQoL results cohort A and B.

EORTC QLQ-C30	Cohort A n = 1006–1042 Mean (CI 95%)	Cohort B n = 139–142 Mean (CI 95%)
Global health^a	74 (73–76)	76 (72–79)
Physical^a	89 (88–90)	90 (88–93)
Role^a	89 (87–90)	90 (87–93)
Emotional^a	87 (86–88)	87 (84–90)
Cognitive^a	86 (85–87)	*
Social^a	84 (82–85)	84 (81–88)
Fatigue^b	20 (18–21)	19 (16–22)
Nausea/vomiting^b	2 (1–2)	*
Pain^b	11(10–12)	10 (7–13)
Dyspnoea^b	17 (16–19)	*
Insomnia^b	18 (16–20)	22 (18–26)
Loss of appetite^b	4 (3–4)	*
Constipation^b	8 (7–9)	8 (5–11)
Diarrhoea^b	9 (8–10)	11 (8–14)
Financial problems^b	3 (2–4)	*
EORTC QLQ-PR25	n = 1004–1046	Not available
Urinary^b	21 (20-22)
Bowel^b	8 (7-8)
Hormonal treatment^b	15 (14-16)
Incontinence Aid #	18 (14-22)
Sexual activity^b	31 (30-33)
Sexual function^a #	51 (49-53)

Number of respondents (n), Confidence interval 95% (CI 95%), *Cognitive function, Nausea/vomiting, dyspnoea, Loss of appetite and financial problems not analysed in cohort B. ^aHigh values indicate high global health and functioning, ^bHigh values indicate high levels of symptoms and problems. # Number of respondents lower depending on conditioned question; Incontinence Aid conditioned on using such items, n = 135, Sexual function conditioned on being sexually active during past month, n = 471.

Table 3. EORTC QLQ-PR25 selected items at five years, comparing Cohort A and B.

			Frequency of symptom intensity according to response alternatives
Selected item	Cohort A n = 1001–1042 Mean, (95% CI)	Cohort B n = 147–156 Mean, (95% CI)	Cohort A% / Cohort B% ” Not at all”	Cohort A% / Cohort B% ” A little”	Cohort A% / Cohort B% ” Quite a bit”	Cohort A% / Cohort B% ” Very much”	P-value
Urinary^a
Urgency	32 (30–34)	31 (26–36)	39/39	37/37	16/18	9/6	NS
Incontinence	13 (12–14)	10 (7–13)	70/74	23/22	6/3	1/1	NS
Nocturia	33 (31–34)	37 (33–41)	29/23	49/46	18/28	4/3	0.03
Bowel^a
Incontinence	8 (7–9)	10 (7–12)	79/75	18/22	2/3	0/0	NS
Blood	4 (3–4)	5 (3–8)	90/85	9/14	1/1	0/0	NS
Hormon related^a
Breast tenderness	5 (4–6)	5 (3–8)	87/86	10/13	2/1	1/0	NS
Hot flushes	8 (7–9)	9 (5–12)	82/81	14/14	4/2	1/3	NS
Sexual
Erectile problems^a*	62 (60–65)	61 (54–68)	10/9	29/31	27/27	34/33	NS
Sexual interest^b	39 (37–41)	40 (36–45)	23/25	39/40	33/27	5/7	NS

Selected items from EORTC QLQ PR25, disease specific questionnaire. Confidence interval (CI 95%), n: number of respondents. P-value, Chi2 test. NS: not statistically significant, ^aHigh value indicate high levels of symptoms and problems, ^bHigh value indicate high level of function. * Lower response rate depending on conditioned question on sexually active past month, Cohort A n = 519, Cohort B n = 87.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [MHE], upon reasonable request.