Reducing Interval Censoring in Time-to-event Analyses of Functional Recovery After Radical Prostatectomy Using...

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Surgical Outcomes
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Radical prostatectomy recovery is continuous but assessed at discrete intervals, leading to interval censoring.
• Standard methods overestimate recovery time by assigning it to survey completion dates.
• Patient estimates of recovery timing are often overlooked in current urologic literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of patient-estimated recovery timing versus standard survey completion dates.
• To evaluate the impact of incorporating patient-reported recovery data into functional outcome analyses.
• To improve the precision of measuring functional recovery post-radical prostatectomy.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 11,161 men undergoing radical prostatectomy (2009-2025).
• Utilized urinary and erectile function questionnaires with patient-estimated recovery timing.
• Employed Kaplan-Meier analyses to compare recovery curves based on both methods.

Main Results:

• Patient-estimated recovery was considerably earlier than survey completion dates.
• Median continence recovery: 5 months (patient-estimated) vs. 8 months (survey date).
• Median erectile function recovery: 18 months (patient-estimated) vs. 23 months (survey date).
• Higher recovery rates at 6 months for both functions using patient estimates.

Conclusions:

• Functional recovery questionnaires should include patient-reported recovery timing.
• Analyzing patient-estimated recovery provides a more accurate measure of functional outcomes.
• This approach refines the assessment of recovery after radical prostatectomy.