Decision regret after curative treatment and its association with the decision‐making process and quality of life for prostate cancer patients

Objectives To determine how the treatment decision‐making process and posttreatment health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) are related to regret about treatment choice for prostate cancer patients in Japan. Methods We invited a total of 614 patients who were treated with radiation therapy (RT), radical prostatectomy (RP), or active surveillance/watchful waiting (AS/WW) from April 2007 to March 2021. Posttreatment regret was evaluated by the Decision Regret Scale. HRQOL was evaluated by the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite and the 12‐item Short Form Survey. The decision‐making process was assessed by patient evaluation of the decision‐making process. We compared the decision regret scale scores across treatment types, HRQOL, and decision‐making processes. Results Data from 371 patients were analyzed (RT: 202, RP: 149, AS/WW: 20). The median length of time since treatment was 64 (IQR: 43–93) months. The decision regret scale scores were not significantly different among the treatment groups but were significantly greater (strong regret) in patients with poor urinary summary scores, bowel summary scores, and hormonal summary scores. The decision regret scale scores were significantly lower (less regret) for patients who reported being adequately informed at the time of the treatment decision and who had adequately communicated their questions and concerns to physicians than for patients who reported less adequate communication. This result was also observed among patients who reported low HRQOL scores. Conclusions These findings underline the important influence of posttreatment HRQOL and decision‐making as an interactive process between physicians and their patients on posttreatment regret in prostate cancer patients.