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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jan 5.
Published in final edited form as: J Natl Med Assoc. 2011 Jun;103(6):468–478. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30359-x

Table 2.

Men’s Perceptions Regarding Surgery (Radical Prostatectomy)

Reasons Why Chosen Reasons Why Not Chosen

  • Offers the best chance of cure

  • Cancer is gone, don’t have to worry

  • Get it over and move on with life

  • Still can do radiation if cancer recurs

  • Doctor recommended it

  • Friend(s) who went through it had good results

  • Best way to know if cancer has spread

  • Fear of radiation

  • Want to live at any cost

  • Doctor said there were pills to deal with impotence

  • Cancer too aggressive

  • Robotic surgery more precise, less invasive with fewer side effects

  • Celebrities who had surgery and were “cured”

  • More invasive

  • More side effects than radiation

  • Don’t want to deal with a “bag” (incontinence concern)

  • Can’t ensure the “nerve” would be spared (impotence concern)

  • Have to stay in hospital (serious infection and mistakes may occur)

  • May die from anesthesia or other surgical complications

  • Disrupt work and daily routines

  • Painful, takes time to heal

  • Doctor did not recommend it

  • Previous bad surgical experience (self or others)

  • Would not heal well because of comorbid conditions