Boeri L, et al. – This study tested the rate of and predictors of depressive symptoms (DS) and sexual desire (SD) impairment in patients who underwent either open (ORP) or robot–assisted (RARP) radical prostatectomy. It was noted that one out of three men surgically treated for Prostate cancer (PCa) still report depressive symptoms months after surgery. The results showed that patients submitted to RARP reported lower depressive symptoms than those submitted to ORP. In addition, sexual desire was highly influenced after radical prostatectomy (RP), with greater impairment reported by patients who underwent ORP.

Methods

• In this study, 811 patients completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Beck’s Inventory for Depression (BDI) preoperatively and at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months post surgery.
• They evaluated rates and predictors of DS and SD impairment with descriptive statistics and logistic regression models.
• They further examined data from 416 RARP and 395 ORP patients.

Results

• Overall, patients showing postoperative BDI scores suggestive of DS ranged between 26.3% (6 months) and 36.7% (36 months).
• The data indicated that BDI scores were significantly higher in ORP compared to RARP patients at every analysed postoperative time point (all p
• The results suggested that RARP patients displayed higher IIEF–EF domain scores and a greater proportion of them showed EF recovery at each time point compared to ORP individuals (all p
• Postoperative SD impairment ranged between 40.9% (6 months) and 34.1% (24 months).
• IIEF–SD domain scores were significantly lower in ORP patients at every follow–up (all p
• The findings revealed that Age, undergoing ORP and postsurgical ED were independent predictors of BDI and SD impairment.