Psychosocial distress in acute cancer patients assessed with an expert rating scale.
OBJECTIVE
The identification of psychosocial stress in cancer patients has remained a challenging task especially in an acute care environment. The aims of the present study were to apply a short expert rating scale for the assessment of distress during the acute treatment phase and to identify potential sociodemographic and disease-related predictors.


METHODS
Four hundred seventy-eight ward cancer patients were assessed with the short form of the psycho-oncological basis documentation and its breast-cancer-specific version. In addition, they completed a self-rating questionnaire on stress in cancer patients. We recorded sociodemographic and disease-related variables and assessed their predictive value for psychosocial distress.


RESULTS
According to the expert rating scale, 56.3% of patients were rated distressed. While only 31.3% of patients were classified as distressed according to a patient self-rating, both approaches showed a good degree of concurrence with a consistent classification of 69% of patients. Younger age, current psychotropic medication, and past psychological treatment were associated with higher distress levels. Patients with metastases and those with a poorer functional status were more distressed. Interestingly, having an operation was associated with a better psychological well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that a substantial proportion of cancer patients in acute care are psychosocially distressed. A short expert rating scale proved to be a feasible tool for the assessment of distress in an acute care setting.
Senf
Bianca
B
Medical Clinic, Markus Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. bianca.senf@fdk.info
Brandt
Holger
H
Dignass
Axel
A
Kleinschmidt
Rolf
R
Kaiser
Jochen
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
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