Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
J Sex Med. 2022 Sep;19(9):1442-1450. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2022.07.001. Epub 2022 Jul 28.
The side effects of prostate cancer treatment include decreases in sexual function, hence, the way patient reported outcomes are collected may affect the quantity and quality of responses.
To determine the effect that different survey modes (email, telephone, or mail) had on the quantity of missing data and self-reported function following treatment.
Men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and enrolled in the Victorian Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry formed the study population. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) survey instrument was administered approximately 1 year after their initial treatment. EPIC-26 measures self-reported function in the sexual, urinary, bowel, and hormonal domains. Multivariable regression models were used to examine effects of survey mode, adjusting for age, residence, socioeconomic status, diagnosing institute type, risk group and primary treatment modality.
The percentage of patients for whom a domain score could not be calculated due to missing responses and the functional score within each domain.
Registry staff attempted to reach 8,586 men eligible to complete the EPIC-26. Of these, 4,301 (50%) returned the survey via email, 1,882 (22%) completed by telephone, and 197 (2.3%) by mail. 2,206 (26%) were uncontactable or did not respond. Email responders had the highest proportion answering all 26 questions (95% vs 87% by phone and 67% by mail). The sexual function score was unable to be calculated due to missing responses for 1.3% of email responders, 8.8% by phone, and 8.1% by mail. After adjustment for patient and disease factors, phone responders were almost 6 times more likely than email responders to have a missing score in this domain, odds ratio = 5.84 (95% confidence interval: 4.06-8.40). The adjusted mean functional score (out of 100) was higher for those responding by phone than email or mail across all domains. The largest adjusted difference between phone and email was observed in the hormonal domain (mean difference 4.5, 95% confidence interval: 3.5-5.4), exceeding the published minimally important difference for this score.
Studies that ask questions regarding sexual health and use multi-modal data collection methods should be aware that this potentially affects their data and consider adjusting for this factor in their analyses.
A large study sample utilizing a widely available survey instrument. Patient specific reasons for non-response were not explored.
Completion mode effects should be considered when analyzing responses to sexual function questions in an older, male population. Papa N, Bensley JG, Perera M, et al. How Prostate Cancer Patients are Surveyed may Influence Self-Reported Sexual Function Responses. J Sex Med 2022;19:1442-1450.
前列腺癌治疗的副作用包括性功能下降，因此，患者报告结果的收集方式可能会影响反应的数量和质量。
确定不同调查模式（电子邮件、电话或邮件）对治疗后缺失数据量和自我报告功能的影响。
新诊断为前列腺癌并纳入维多利亚前列腺癌结局登记处的男性构成了研究人群。大约在他们最初治疗后 1 年，使用扩展前列腺癌指数综合量表（EPIC-26）进行调查。EPIC-26 测量性、尿、肠和激素领域的自我报告功能。使用多变量回归模型检查调查模式的效果，调整年龄、居住地、社会经济地位、诊断机构类型、风险组和主要治疗方式。
登记处工作人员试图联系 8586 名符合条件完成 EPIC-26 调查的男性。其中，4301 名（50%）通过电子邮件回复了调查，1882 名（22%）通过电话完成，197 名（2.3%）通过邮件完成。2206 名（26%）无法联系或未回复。电子邮件回复者回答所有 26 个问题的比例最高（95%与电话回答者的 97%和邮件回答者的 67%）。由于电子邮件回复者的缺失反应，性功能评分无法计算的比例为 1.3%，电话为 8.8%，邮件为 8.1%。在调整了患者和疾病因素后，电话回复者在该领域出现缺失评分的可能性几乎是电子邮件回复者的 6 倍，优势比为 5.84（95%置信区间：4.06-8.40）。在所有领域，通过电话回复的患者的功能评分均高于电子邮件或邮件回复者。电话和电子邮件之间的最大调整差异出现在激素领域（平均差异为 4.5，95%置信区间：3.5-5.4），超过了该评分的最小有意义差异。
询问有关性健康问题的研究并使用多模态数据收集方法，应注意这可能会影响他们的数据，并考虑在分析中对此因素进行调整。
利用广泛可用的调查工具，研究样本量大。未探讨患者非应答的具体原因。
在分析老年男性人群对性功能问题的反应时，应考虑完成模式的影响。
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