Associations of role, area deprivation index, and race with health behaviors and body mass index among localized prostate cancer patients and their partners

Purpose: To examine the associations of role (localized prostate cancer (PCa) patient vs. their intimate partner), area deprivation index (ADI—higher scores indicating higher neighborhood deprivation levels), and race (Black/African American (AA) vs. White) with health behaviors and body mass index (BMI) among PCa patients and partners. The behaviors include smoking, alcohol consumption, diet quality, sedentary behaviors, and physical activity (PA). Methods: This study used the baseline data collected in a clinical trial. Given the nested structure of the dyadic data, multi-level models were used. Results: Significant role-race interaction effects on smoking, ADI-race effects on alcohol consumption, and role-ADI effects on BMI were found. Meanwhile, patients smoked more cigarettes, decreased alcohol consumption, had less healthful diets, spent longer time watching TV, did fewer sedentary hobbies, had more confidence in PA, and had higher BMIs than their partners. High ADI was independently associated with lower odds of drinking alcohol, using computer/Internet, and doing non-walking PA, and higher BMI compared to low ADI controlling for role and race. Black/AA dyads had less smoking amount and alcohol consumption and higher sedentary time and BMI than White dyads when adjusted for role and ADI. Conclusions: This study identified significant interaction and main effects of role, ADI, or race on health behaviors and BMI. Implications for Cancer Survivors: Future behavioral interventions should address divergent individual needs between patients and partners, social and neighborhood barriers, and cultural indicators of racial groups to promote healthful behaviors and improve the quality of survivorship for PCa patients and partners.