Prostate cancer disclosure and sexual orientation: Understanding outness to healthcare providers as a situational or consistent phenomenon

Daniel R Wells-Prado; Michael W Ross; B R Simon Rosser; Elizabeth J Polter; Bea D Capistrant; Ryan Haggart; Nidhi Kohli; Badrinath R Konety; Darryl Mitteldorf; Kristine M C Talley; William West; Christopher W Wheldon

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2021.11.017

Prostate cancer disclosure and sexual orientation: Understanding outness to healthcare providers as a situational or consistent phenomenon

Patient Educ Couns. 2022 Jul;105(7):2033-2037. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.11.017. Epub 2021 Nov 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Medical School, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: wells329@umn.edu.
² Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Medical School, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: mwross@umn.edu.
³ Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300S. 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. Electronic address: rosser@umn.edu.
⁴ Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300S. 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. Electronic address: polte004@umn.edu.
⁵ School of Social Work, Smith College, Lilly Hall 23 West St., Northampton, MA 01063, USA. Electronic address: bcapistrant@smith.edu.
⁶ Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Medical School, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Urology, University of Minnesota, 909 Fulton Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA. Electronic address: rhaggart@umn.edu.
⁷ Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, 250 Education Sciences Bldg, 56 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: nkohli@umn.edu.
⁸ Department of Urology, Rush Medical College, 600S Paulina St Suite 524, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Electronic address: badrinath_konety@rush.edu.
⁹ Malecare Cancer Support, 63 Avenue A, apt 13i, New York, NY 10009, USA. Electronic address: darrylm@malecare.org.
¹⁰ School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 308 SE Harvard St, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: carl0106@umn.edu.
¹¹ Department of Writing Studies, University of Minnesota, 315 Pillsbury Dr SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: westx005@umn.edu.
¹² Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Electronic address: christopher.wheldon@nih.gov.

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we investigated if outness is more a situational or a consistent characteristic in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) treated for prostate cancer and how the disclosure of sexual orientation impacts provider discussions of sexual side effects.

Methods: Data came from Restore, an online cross-sectional survey of 193 GBM prostate cancer survivors living in North America and were analyzed using various statistical models.

Results: Disclosure of sexual orientation and of living with prostate cancer were not significantly correlated. Participants who were out regarding sexual orientation were more likely to report that their surgeons and urologists discussed the sexual side effects of treatment.

Conclusion: Outness appears to be a situational phenomenon. GBM prostate cancer survivors who were out regarding sexual orientation received more discussion surrounding sexual side effects of prostate cancer treatment from their providers.

Practice implications: It is important for healthcare providers to inquire about patient's sexual orientation to provide holistic care to these patients to address health disparities within this group.

Keywords: Bisexual; Gay; Men who have sex with men; Prostate cancer; Sexual orientation disclosure.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Bisexuality
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disclosure
Health Personnel
Homosexuality, Male
Humans
Male
Prostatic Neoplasms* / therapy
Sexual Behavior
Sexual and Gender Minorities*

Grants and funding

R21 CA182041/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States