Prospective health-related quality-of-life assessment in an initial cohort of patients undergoing robotic radical prostatectomy

Objectives To prospectively assess the health-related quality-of-life outcomes of patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy using a validated patient self-assessment questionnaire. Methods Patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy between September 2003 and May 2005 were given the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire preoperatively and 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months postoperatively. Patients with a minimum follow-up of 3 months were included in the analysis. The mean domain-specific health-related quality-of-life scores ± SD and the proportion of patients achieving their baseline scores were calculated. Multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis was used to determine the potential prognostic factors for a return to baseline of the domain scores and continence. Results The median follow-up was 9.5 months. The median time to recovery of the baseline summary scores was 6.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.9 to 7.2) in the urinary domain, 2.8 months (95% CI 2.0 to 3.7) in the bowel domain, and 3.0 months (95% CI 2.2 to 3.9) in the hormonal domain. The baseline sexual summary score was recovered by 19.2% of patients at 12 months. The median time to return of continence (0 to 1 pads/day) was 4.0 months (95% CI 3.0 to 4.9). The median time to the return of erections firm enough for intercourse was 13.5 months (95% CI 9.9 to 17.1). On multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis, age, body mass index, prostate size, nerve-sparing technique, and number of comorbidities were not significantly associated with the time to recovery of the baseline domain scores or continence. Conclusions Patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy have a favorable health-related quality-of-life recovery profile that appears comparable to those of established surgical approaches.