title: Clinical assessment of depression in terminally ill cancer patients: a practical guide.
abstract: Depression is commonly experienced by cancer patients at the end of life. The identification of patients suffering from depression is essential to provide clinicians with an opportunity to relieve considerable suffering. However, the assessment of depressive symptoms is complex and often challenging in a terminally ill cancer population. This article offers practical guidelines to assist clinicians with the diagnosis of depression, reviews the defining symptoms of depression and their unique presentation in patients at the end of life, suggests modifications of the standard diagnostic interview, and provides examples of specific assessment questions to target depressive symptoms at the end of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA. pessinh@mskcc.org
authors.forename: Hayley
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pessin
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olden
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kosinski
mesh_terms: D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*