How Older Patients' Treatment Preferences Are Influenced by Disclosures About Therapeutic Uncertainty: Surgery Versus Expectant Management for Localized Prostate Cancer

OBJECTIVES: There is an ongoing debate about the proper management of localized prostate cancer in older men. We assessed whether older patients differ in their willingness to accept surgery versus expectant management for a hypothetical early stage, low grade, clinically localized prostate carcinoma, and whether patients' current levels or past history of urologic dysfunction (difficulties initiating urination, failing to empty the bladder, urinary dribbling, getting up at night to urinate, and frequency of sexual activity) influence their decisions. We assessed patients' willingness to choose surgery over expectant management by varying the expected survival benefit in years (ESBs‐em) of surgery over expectant management.

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