Division of Psychooncology, Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatic, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Patient Educ Couns. 2020 Oct;103(10):2107-2115. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.05.009. Epub 2020 May 12.
Little is known about online peer-to-peer support for persons affected by prostate cancer (PC) and its potential effects.
Our systematic review of the literature followed the PRISMA statement and revealed a total of 2372 records. Finally, 24 studies about online peer-to-peer support for persons affected by PC were selected for qualitative synthesis. Due to a lack of suitable quantitative results, the intended meta-analysis was not possible.
Available studies were almost exclusively descriptive. Only one randomized controlled trial (RCT) included 40 PC survivors. In this study, quality of life improved in online support group (OSG) users and decreased in the control group. However, it returned to baseline in both groups after eight weeks. As a summary across all studies, OSGs play a significant role in patients' treatment decision-making and for the social environment of PC patients. Information exchange in OSGs was predominant, but emotional and supportive content also had an important function.
Due to the inconsistent methodology and the lack of reporting standards, a synthesis from the available studies is very limited.
Population-based studies should focus on the actual use of OSGs. The effectiveness of OSGs needs to be investigated in RCTs.
关于前列腺癌（PC）患者的在线同伴支持及其潜在影响，人们知之甚少。
我们对文献的系统回顾遵循 PRISMA 声明，共显示了 2372 条记录。最后，选择了 24 项关于受 PC 影响的人的在线同伴支持的研究进行定性综合。由于缺乏合适的定量结果，因此无法进行预期的荟萃分析。
现有研究几乎都是描述性的。只有一项随机对照试验（RCT）纳入了 40 名 PC 幸存者。在这项研究中，在线支持小组（OSG）用户的生活质量提高，而对照组则下降。然而，在八周后，两组都恢复到基线水平。综合所有研究，OSG 在患者的治疗决策和 PC 患者的社会环境中发挥着重要作用。OSG 中的信息交流占主导地位，但情感和支持内容也具有重要功能。
由于方法不一致且缺乏报告标准，因此对现有研究的综合非常有限。
基于人群的研究应侧重于 OSG 的实际使用。需要在 RCT 中研究 OSG 的有效性。
