Androgen Deprivation Therapy and maintenance of intimacy: a randomized controlled pilot study of an educational intervention for patients and their partners.

PURPOSE: Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer is associated with many treatment side effects that tend to erode couples' intimacy. We piloted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of an educational intervention designed to preserve couples' intimacy in the face of ADT.

METHODS

Couples were recruited at the time the patient was first prescribed ADT and were randomized to a treatment or control group. Those in the treatment group were asked to read an educational guide and participate in an educational session designed to inform couples about possible ADT side effects and management strategies. To assess changes in the couples' relationships, they were administered the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships questionnaire prior to randomization and again at 6 months.

RESULTS

While results were not statistically significant, trends and effect sizes suggest that the educational intervention helped attenuate declines in intimacy for patients, but not for their partners. Couples who participated in the intervention were more successful at maintaining sexual activity than were couples in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

ADT places considerable strain on intimate relationships, particularly for the partners. It appears that patients who receive help in anticipating and managing ADT related changes report better dyadic adjustment and closer intimacy. More efforts are needed to develop interventions to benefit patients' partners. We conclude that the intervention holds promise and that a full-scale evaluation of the intervention is both feasible and warranted.