Table 2.

Longitudinal studies of psychological adjustment to prostate cancer

Study	Design	Characteristics of the sample	Major Findings
Nordin et al. (2001)	• 6 months study with 2 observation points Measures include the Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale and the Impact of Events Scale	• 522 cancer patients (mixed diagnoses, 118 with PCA, 8% late-stage PCA)	• Depression scores at diagnosis predicted levels 6 months later Risk factors: Advanced disease; low social support • Recommendation: Screen with a depression measure and one social support question
Visser et al. (2003)	• 3 months study with 2 observation points Measures include the EORTC	• 23 PCA and 38 benign prostate hyperplasia patients • Large attrition rates • Mixed therapy modes	• QOL for PCA patients decreased over the 3 months but not for BPH patients • Psychosocial factors were stable and contributed little to change in QOL