OBJECTIVE

Many young male cancer patients experience reproductive concerns. Self-disclosure might be able to improve patients' perceived social support and reproductive concerns. Nevertheless, these relationships have not yet been confirmed among young male cancer patients. This study aims to investigate the level of reproductive concerns and to identify the mediating role of perceived social support between self-disclosure and reproductive concerns among young male cancer patients in China by developing a structural model.

METHODS

This study was a quantitative, cross-sectional design. We used the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement guidelines to report this study. A total of 369 young male cancer survivors were recruited by convenience sampling from two tertiary hospitals in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. Data were collected using a "general data questionnaire", "distress disclosure index" (DDI), "perceived social support scale" (PSSS), and "reproductive concerns after cancer-male" (RCAC-M) via the WeChat mini program "Questionnaire Star" and paper questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analyses, and structural equation models were adopted to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Reproductive concerns were at moderate levels and negatively associated with self-disclosure ( = -0.619,  < 0.01) and perceived social support ( = -0.599,  < 0.01). Self-disclosure indirectly influenced reproductive concerns (-0.328∼-0.159,  < 0.001) through perceived social support.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-disclosure and perceived social support are closely associated with reproductive concerns in young male cancer patients, and perceived social support is a mediator between self-disclosure and reproductive concerns. Healthcare providers could reduce reproductive concerns by enhancing self-disclosure and improving perceived social support.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on June 13, 2023 (NCT05914181).