Psychosocial interventions to support partners of men with prostate cancer: a systematic and critical review of the literature

Purpose

Prostate cancer poses many challenges for both the man and his partner. Partners have reported a range of issues that impact their own mental health following their partner’s diagnosis of prostate cancer. The aim of this review is to summarise and critically evaluate the current literature reporting psychosocial intervention studies for partners of prostate cancer patients.

Methods

An extensive literature search of electronic databases was conducted (OvidMEDLINE 1946, 26th September 2013, and psychINFO 1967, 26th September 2013) using the keywords prostate cancer AND intervention* OR therapy* OR psychosocial intervention* OR support* AND couple* or Spouse* or Partner* or Intimate partner* matched to the title as well as secondary scanning of reference lists. Studies were included if they described interventions for partners of prostate cancer patients, either solely for the partners or as a couple, intended to alleviate distress and enhance the partner’s or couple’s quality of life, and reported a measurable outcome for partners.

Results

A total of 11 prostate cancer-specific intervention studies that included partners and reported separate results for the partners were found. Only one of these interventions was partner specific, the other eight involved the patient-partner dyad. The studies identified primarily focussed on two areas: emotional distress and sexual intimacy, and mixed findings were reported for efficacy of interventions.

Conclusions

Despite strong evidence that partners of men with prostate cancer experience difficulties associated with the impact of prostate cancer, there is limited research that has investigated the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for partners. Of the reviewed studies, it is evident that interventions targeting the reduction of emotional distress, improved communication and sexual intimacy between the couple and utilisation of strategies that enable partners to express their distress, learn new strategies and implement behavioural change show the most promising results in enhancing partner well-being.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Significant progress is required in developing and evaluating appropriate and effective psychosocial support interventions for partners of prostate cancer survivors as partners appear to have significant unmet needs in this area.