title: Psychosocial burden and desire for support in outpatients with skin cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An important basis for adequate psycho-oncological and psychosocial care of cancer patients is the regular assessment of their psychosocial distress and thus their need for care. For this purpose, there are numerous questionnaires available. The objective of the present study was to assess whether distressed patients require professional support and which screening instrument outpatients with skin cancer prefer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional survey, we asked outpatients with skin cancer to fill out three questionnaires assessing psychosocial stress, and to indicate which one they considered most adequate. Patients were offered the following three instruments: Hornheide Questionnaire (27 items), Hornheide Screening Instrument (7 items), and the Distress Thermometer. In addition, we inquired about the patients' desire for support.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) Comparing subjective distress and patients' declared desire for support revealed a marked divergence. While one-third of the 137 patients were identified as being in need of care, only 11.5% of the sample requested such support. (2) 63.7% of patients chose the long version of the Hornheide Questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to their psychosocial burden, patients' desire for support should be assessed. Moreover, apart from screening tools, other ways to provide access to psychosocial care should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Psychology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Buchhold
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Psychology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wiesmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.|HELIOS Hanse Hospital Stralsund, Stralsund, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bahlmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Stine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lutze
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eggert
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Daeschlein
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jünger
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Psychology, Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hannich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000523:psychology; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011584:Psychology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Distress Thermometer; Hornheide Questionnaire; Hornheide Screening Instrument; Screening instruments; desire for support; psychosocial burden; skin tumor patients