Who to Tell? Latino Men's Disclosure of their Prostate Cancer

Decisions related to prostate cancer screening, treatment, and disclosure are fraught with uncertainty. Understanding how Latino men cope with this uncertainty has become critical for several reasons. Prostate cancer remains the most common noncutaneous cancer and the second leading cause of death among men in the United States. Latinos represent the fastest growing minority in the United States. While there is little data on immigrant status and prostate cancer, what is available indicates that Latino immigrants have higher prostate cancer rates than rates reported in their native countries, but similar rates to US-born Latino men. Low-income Latinos also are more likely to be uninsured and have less formal education than their non-Latino white counterparts which has been cited as a reason for having higher stage disease at diagnosis than Caucasian men. Despite this knowledge, prostate cancer among Latinos has received very little attention in the medical or public health literature and even less is known about how Latino men treated for prostate cancer view disclosing their diagnosis to others. Utilizing a descriptive design using “fundamental” qualitative description, we conducted in-depth individual interviews with 30 Latino men treated for prostate cancer. Interviews were conducted in person by male, bilingual interviewers. Analysis was conducted using constructivist grounded theory techniques. In this study we sought to understand the disclosure decision-making process from the perspectives of Latino men with prostate cancer. Understanding how Latino men cope with this uncertainty is critical to the development of interventions targeting men at high-risk for prostate cancer.