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An ecological momentary assessment of self-management in prostate cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

To assess the ‘real-time’ self-management strategies employed by prostate cancer survivors to inform personalised supportive care interventions in the future.

Method

A purposive sampling framework was used to recruit men with different stages of cancer and treatment to an ecological momentary assessment (capturing experiences in real time) study. Each participant was prompted by an audio alert to complete self-report questionnaires three times per day (93 data entries in total) for a total duration of 31 days. The personal digital assistant (PDA) and pocket interview software were used.

Results

Prostate cancer survivors experienced a wide range of after-effects of therapy for which they used various self-management strategies. Many of the men experienced sexual dysfunction but did not perform any self-management.

Conclusion

Our findings reinforce the importance of having access to tailored, timely and person-centred supported self-management care plans. Real-time monitoring data can provide helpful information to facilitate tailored recommendations for self-management.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Prostate cancer survivors can experience unmet supportive care needs which may increase men’s demands to perform self-management of their condition. Future clinical intervention studies aimed at utilising the remote exchange of real-time data serves to optimise tailored supported self-management.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank especially, all the participants who took part in this study and members of the clinical advisory group. I would also like to thank Dr. Janice Rattray, Professor Martin Jones, Professor William Lauder and Dr. Charlotte Primeau for their comments on this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Alliance of Self-Care and the University of Dundee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Catherine Paterson

  2. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, ACT, UK

    Catherine Paterson

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  1. Catherine Paterson
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Correspondence to Catherine Paterson.

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The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Paterson, C. An ecological momentary assessment of self-management in prostate cancer survivors. J Cancer Surviv 13, 364–373 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00758-w

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