Illness Uncertainty and Its Antecedents for Patients With Prostate Cancer and Their Partners.
Ting Guan, Peiran Guo, Sheila Judge Santacroce and 2 others
PMID 33063780WHAT IT FOUND
Illness uncertainty remained stable over 12 months for prostate cancer patients and their partners.
Partners reported significantly higher uncertainty than patients. Uncertainty was linked to symptoms, rising PSA, and low social support, but did not change with time since diagnosis.
Key findings
01Illness uncertainty levels did not change significantly over time for either patients or partners.
02Partners reported significantly higher levels of illness uncertainty than patients.
03Higher illness uncertainty was associated with more general and prostate-specific symptoms, higher PSA levels, and lower social support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was relatively small and homogeneous (mostly White, middle-income, and college-educated), limiting generalizability. Patients with advanced cancer may have dropped out due to death, potentially skewing the uncertainty levels reported for that group. The study did not measure some key antecedents of uncertainty, such as cognitive capacity or trust in healthcare providers (credible authority). The finding regarding racial differences in uncertainty should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of non-White participants. This was a secondary analysis of the control group from an RCT, so it observes natural variation rather than testing a specific uncertainty-reduction intervention.
Declared interests
Research support from the National Institutes of Health (R01CA090739).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that illness uncertainty decreases naturally as time passes since diagnosis. The study found uncertainty levels remained stable over 12 months, meaning patients and partners do not automatically become more certain or comfortable with the illness as they live with it longer.