Individual and dyadic planning predicting pelvic floor exercise among prostate cancer survivors

Abstract

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 60(3) of Rehabilitation Psychology (see record 2015-40319-001). Aleksandra Luszczynska's institutional affiliation was incorrectly set as Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities. It should have been University of Social Sciences and Humanities. All versions of this article have been corrected.]

Objective: Radical prostatectomy, a standard treatment for localized prostate cancer, is often followed by a recommendation to initiate and maintain pelvic floor exercise (PFE), to control postsurgery urinary incontinence. Previous studies showed that planning facilitated the uptake and maintenance of a new behavior. Whereas individual planning addresses the setting of plans by 1 person, dyadic planning refers to creating plans together with a partner on when, where, and how the individual target person will perform a behavior. Individual and dyadic planning of PFE, their development over time, and their associations with PFE were investigated.

Research method: In a correlational study, 175 prostate-cancer patients provided data at 1, 3, 5, and 7 months following the onset of incontinence. Individual planning of PFE by patients and dyadic planning of PFE between patients and their partners, PFE, and incontinence were assessed by patients' self-reports.

Results: Two-level models with repeated assessments nested in individuals revealed stable levels of individual planning of PFE over time in patients with higher incontinence severity, whereas patients with receding incontinence showed decreases. Independent of incontinence severity, a curvilinear increase followed by a decrease of dyadic planning of PFE across time emerged. Sequential associations of both planning strategies with PFE were found. Whereas individual planning was steadily associated with PFE, associations between dyadic planning and PFE were nonsignificant in the beginning, but increased over time.

Conclusions: Findings point to the importance of individual planning for the adoption and maintenance of PFE, with dyadic planning being relevant for PFE maintenance only.