Information Behaviour and Knowledge of Patients Before Radical Prostatectomy

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Surgical Oncology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Robot-assisted (RARP) and open radical prostatectomy (ORP) are standard treatments for localized prostate cancer.
• Both RARP and ORP demonstrate comparable oncological and functional outcomes.
• Patient knowledge and informational behavior regarding these procedures are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comparatively examine the informational behavior and knowledge of patients undergoing ORP versus RARP.
• To investigate patient perceptions of oncological and functional outcomes for both procedures.
• To identify risk factors associated with misperceptions of procedure outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, multicenter study involving patients prior to presurgery counseling.
• Utilized questionnaires to gather data on information-seeking behaviors and outcome assessments.
• Analyzed risk factors for misperceptions using multivariable analysis.

Main Results:

• 508 patients included: 307 RARP (60%) and 201 ORP (40%).
• RARP patients more frequently received balanced information compared to ORP patients (60% vs. 40%).
• RARP patients erroneously perceived their procedure as superior oncologically and functionally; predictors included age, education, information search balance, RARP status, and treatment center type.

Conclusions:

• Patients undergoing RARP often hold a misperception of its superiority over ORP in oncological and functional outcomes.
• Unbalanced information sources likely contribute to this misperception.
• Urologists and surgical centers must actively address these disparities to facilitate informed patient decision-making.