Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34091242›Full record

ArticleSexual medicine2021

Couple Counseling and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training for Men Operated for Prostate Cancer and for Their Female Partners: Results From the Randomized ProCan Trial.

Randi V Karlsen, Pernille E Bidstrup, Annamaria Giraldi, Helle Hvarness, Per Bagi, Susanne Vahr Lauridsen, Vanna Albieri, Marie Frederiksen, Eva Krause, Ulla Due and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Sexual medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Experiences of sexual well-being interventions in males affected by genitourinary cancers and their partners: an integrative systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023
    Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Article
  9. Exploring the role of psychological flexibility in relationship functioning among couples coping with prostate cancer: a cross-sectional study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Randi V KarlsenPsychological Aspects of Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: randi@cancer.dk.
Pernille E BidstrupPsychological Aspects of Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Annamaria GiraldiSexological Clinic, Psychiatric Center Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Helle HvarnessUrological Department, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Per BagiUrological Department, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Susanne Vahr LauridsenUrological Department, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Vanna AlbieriStatistics and Data Analysis, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Marie FrederiksenStatistics and Data Analysis, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eva KrauseDepartment of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ulla DueDepartment of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Herlev and Gentofte University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark.
Christoffer JohansenDepartment of Oncology, Finsen Centre 5073, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Social Inequality in Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rigshospitalet · DKDanish Cancer Society · DKGentofte Hospital · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPatients with prostate cancer (PC) who undergo radical prostatectomy (RP) experience impaired sexual and urinary function.

aimTo compare the effect of early couple counseling and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) with usual care for sexual and urinary dysfunction after RP.

methodsThe ProCan study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two parallel treatment arms and 1:1 allocation. Between January 2016 and December 2017, candidates for RP were invited to a longitudinal questionnaire study and provided baseline measures before surgery. Patients who underwent RP, had a female partner, and were sexually active were invited to the ProCan RCT. Couples who provided informed consent were allocated to usual care or usual care and up to six couple counseling sessions, up to three instructions in PFMT and a video home-training program. All couples filled in follow-up questionnaires at 8 and 12 months and non-participants provided 12 months' follow-up. Linear mixed-effect models and 95% confidence intervals were used to measure effects of the intervention.

main outcome measurePrimary outcome was erectile function, measured with The International Index of Erectile Function, at 8 and 12 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes were sexual and urinary function and use of treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) by patients; sexual function in female partners; and relationship function, health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy in both patients and female partners.

resultsThirty-five couples were randomized. No significant effect of the intervention was found on erectile function at 8 months (estimated difference in change, 1.41; 95% CI; -5.51 ; 8.33) or 12 months (estimated difference in change, 0.53; 95% CI; -5.94; 6.99) or in secondary outcomes, except for significantly increased use of ED treatment at 8 months.

conclusionWe found no effect of early couple counseling and PFMT, possibly because of the limited number of participants. Karlsen RV, Bidstrup PE, Giraldi A, et al. Couple Counseling and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training for Men Operated for Prostate Cancer and for Their Female Partners. Results From the Randomized ProCan Trial. Sex Med 2021;9:100350.

Indexed as

Couple CounselingPelvic Floor MusclePhysiotherapyProstate CancerSexual DysfunctionSurgery

Identifiers

PMID34091242
PMCPMC8240341
OpenAlexW3168657530

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.