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Patient-reported results

Patient-reported results are becoming increasingly relevant as part of quality improvement in the health service. This Movember-funded pilot invites prostate cancer patients and a control group of men without prostate cancer to a men's health survey.

Why patient-reported results?

Many people who have been treated for cancer experience side effects. Some people experience side effects that are so bothersome that they affect their quality of life.

The aim of this pilot study is to find concrete measures to improve the quality of life for prostate cancer patients.

Results will be published in the annual report from the National Quality Registry for Prostate Cancer, as well as on this website. In addition, articles are published in professional journals. The Movember Foundation is funding the study, which monitors the health status over several years. 

Invitation, participation and consent

All men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 were invited to participate in the survey. A control group consisting of men who neither have, nor have had, prostate cancer was also invited to participate.

The invitations were sent out electronically or as paper forms. The answer could be done electronically, even if they received the invitation by regular mail. 

The first invitation to participate in the survey was sent out within two months of diagnosis, and the invitation and questionnaire for round two after one year. The invitation and questionnaire for round three were sent out after three years, and are still ongoing.

Participation in the study is voluntary. Consent to participate in the study may be withdrawn at any time. The consent can be withdrawn by accessing the https://minside.kreftregisteret.no, or by sending a letter (postal address at the bottom of the page). Withdrawal of consent means that all information collected in the survey is deleted from the project's database, and no more inquiries about this survey are received.

Participation in the study is voluntary. Consent to participate in the study may be withdrawn at any time. The consent can be withdrawn by accessing the https://minside.kreftregisteret.no, or by sending a letter (postal address at the bottom of the page). Withdrawal of consent means that all information collected in the survey will be deleted from the project's database. You will also not receive any more inquiries about this survey.

What do we ask?

The questionnaire consists of four main parts:

  1. Background
  2. General state of health
  3. Symptoms that may be typical for cancer patients
  4. Symptoms that occur to varying degrees in men who have, or are being treated for, prostate cancer

The purpose of the questions is to obtain the most comprehensive picture possible of the health status of the individual participant. The study contains general, cancer-specific and prostate cancer-specific questions in order to compare results from the group of prostate cancer patients with results for other cancers, other diseases and the control group.

Privacy

The study was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (ref.nr. 2015/1297/REC South-East C). The study has approval through 12/31/2028. Only specially authorised employees, who are subject to a duty of confidentiality and linked to the project, can find their way back to individuals. It will not be possible to identify individuals in the results of the study when these are published.

Under the new Personal Data Act, the treatment manager Oslo University Hospital HF at the Cancer Registry of Norway and project manager Tom Børge Johannesen have an independent responsibility to ensure that the processing of your information has a legal basis. This project has a legal basis in Article 6 (1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation and Article 9 (2)(a).

Sharing of data and transfers abroad

By participating in the project, you also agree that information from the questionnaire may be transferred abroad as part of research collaboration and publication.

De-identified data may be disclosed to Monash University, Australia, for use in an international research project that seeks to improve the treatment and follow-up of prostate cancer through mapping patients' quality of life (The movember true north). These may be countries with laws that do not ensure European data protection laws. The project manager will ensure that your information is handled in a safe manner. The code that links you to your personally identifiable information will not be disclosed.

Disclosure of data to healthcare institutions

For participants who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, participation in the survey means that the participants also agree that information from the questionnaire can be disclosed to the health institution (hospital/GP's office, etc.) that follows up the patient. Some health institutions will use the information to quality assure the treatment patients receive. Health institutions that request information from the questionnaire may only use this information for their own purposes if they have the necessary basis for processing (prior approval from REK, licence from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority or recommendation from a data protection officer).

 

Last updated 08.11.2019.