Impact of Age, Marital Status, Smoking, and Alcohol Consumption on Urinary and Sexual Function in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Radical Prostatectomy: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objective To examine the impact of age, marital status, smoking status, and alcohol use on urinary and sexual function up to 1 year post-radical prostatectomy (RP) among men with prostate cancer. Methods Participants were recruited from the Prostatectomy, Incontinence, and Erectile dysfunction study. Patient characteristics were assessed at baseline. Urinary and sexual function were assessed using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite-50 at baseline and 5 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post-RP. Mean urinary and sexual function scores were calculated for each time point by patient characteristics. Results The cohort consisted of 311 and 286 men for urinary function and sexual function, respectively. Urinary function : At baseline, married men had significantly higher urinary function scores ( P = .027). By 6 months post-RP, older (vs younger, P = .044) and unmarried men (vs married, P = .008) had significantly worse urinary function. By 12 months post-RP, these differences disappeared, with all groups returning to levels approaching baseline. Sexual function: At baseline, participants who were younger ( P <.001), never-smokers ( P <.001), and more frequent consumers of alcohol ( P = .021) had significantly higher sexual function scores. Small improvements in sexual function occurred at 6 months post-RP. By 12 months post-RP, sexual function did not recover to baseline levels for any group and was significantly lower for older ( P <.001), unmarried ( P <.025), and ever-smoker participants ( P = .002). Conclusion Urinary function scores recover to levels approaching baseline by 12 months post-RP. Sexual function scores do not recover to baseline levels by 12 months post-RP for any group and are lower for participants who are older, unmarried, or smoke.