Psycho-Oncology最新文献

{"title":"The psychological health of patients diagnosed with cancer in Iraq during the COVID-19 pandemic: A single center study.","authors":"Tahseen Alrubai, Arwa Mohsun Khalil, Rasha Zaki, Loubna Sinno, Samaa Al Tabbah","doi":"10.1002/pon.5851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5851","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The objective of this study was to assess the psychological health status of patients diagnosed with cancer in Iraq during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aim was to measure the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among patients diagnosed with cancer. Secondary aims were to assess the association between depression, anxiety, and stress with sociodemographic characteristics, cancer-specific characteristics, patients' experience in healthcare visit, risk perception towards COVID-19, and health concern during the outbreak.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 1, 2020 and December 1, 2020 at an Oncology clinic in Baghdad. Included in the study were two hundred patients diagnosed with cancer. Data collected included: demographic variables (age, gender, residential location, marital status, education, employment status), clinical characteristics and cancer-specific parameters (duration since cancer diagnosis, cancer type, treatment duration, clinic visits frequency), experience during the pandemic (skipping or postponing treatment or periodical tests, suffering from new body pain, fear of acquiring the infection, fear of health deterioration), as well as psychological health status (depression, anxiety, stress). Pain, risk perception towards COVID-19, and health concern were measured using categorical Likert scale with responses being no, sometimes, and often. The psychological health status was measured by the \"Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale\" (DASS-21). Cut-off scores of the DASS-21 greater than 9, 7, and 14 represent a positive screen of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The prevalence of patients who screened positive for depression was 22.0%, anxiety 22.0%, and stress 13.5%. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress were significantly more in those who had university or higher education (34.3%, p-value <0.0001; 32.3%, p-value <0.0001; 19.2%, p-value = 0.02 respectively). Those were four times more likely to have depression and two times more likely to have anxiety than participants who had school education (OR = 4.40 CI [1.98-9.77], p-value <0.0001; OR = 2.55 CI [1.15-5.65], p-value = 0.02, respectively). The prevalence of anxiety was significantly the highest in the age group 16-39 years (40.9%) compared to 22.3% in the age group 40-64 years and 10.3% in the group ≥65 years (p-value = 0.02). Patients ≥65 years of age were less likely to develop anxiety compared to younger patients (OR = 0.44 CI [0.22-0.89], p-value = 0.02). As for the patients' experience in healthcare visit, 66 patients (33.0%) skipped or postponed their treatment or tests due to the outbreak. Around (8%) sometimes suffered from new body pain. Those who sometimes suffered from new body pain had significantly more depression than patients who did not suffer new pain or often had new pain (50.0% vs. 15.0% vs. 28.1% respectively, p-v","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"649-660"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8646239/pdf/PON-31-649.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39603115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychological distress and experiences of Adolescents and Young Adults with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey.","authors":"Camille Glidden,&nbsp;Kaitlyn Howden,&nbsp;Razvan G Romanescu,&nbsp;Andrew Hatala,&nbsp;Ian Scott,&nbsp;Julie M Deleemans,&nbsp;Karine Chalifour,&nbsp;Geoff Eaton,&nbsp;Abha A Gupta,&nbsp;James M Bolton,&nbsp;Sheila N Garland,&nbsp;Alyson L Mahar,&nbsp;Sapna Oberoi","doi":"10.1002/pon.5849","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5849","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study investigated prevalence of psychological distress, factors associated with distress, and experiences of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also compared distress in this group to previously surveyed Canadian AYAs with cancer in 2018 by the Young Adults with Cancer in their Prime (YACPRIME) study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional, online, self-administered survey of AYAs diagnosed with cancer between 15 and 39 years of age was conducted. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Associations between variables and high psychological distress (K10 ≥ 25), and comparison of prevalence of psychological distress with the YACPRIME study were done using multivariable logistic regression. Summative qualitative content analysis analyzed participant experiences during this pandemic.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We included 805 participants. High psychological distress was present in over two-thirds of the group (68.0%; 95% CI, 64.7%-71.2%). Employment impact during pandemic (AOR (adjusted odds ratio), 2.16; 95% CI, 1.41-3.31) and hematologic malignancy (AOR, 1.76; 95% CI 1.08-2.97) were associated with higher psychological distress, while older age [AOR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99] and personal income < $40,000 (AOR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.24-0.58) were associated with lower distress. Adjusted odds of experiencing psychological distress among AYAs with cancer during pandemic compared to pre-pandemic years was 1.85 (95% CI: 1.36-2.53). Overarching themes of pandemic experiences included: inferior quality of life, impairment of cancer care, COVID-19 related concerns and extreme social isolation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>AYAs diagnosed with cancer are experiencing high psychological distress during this pandemic. Distress screening and evidence-based interventions to alleviate distress are essential.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"631-640"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39665852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Patient competencies, coping self-efficacy, and coping: Do they change during oncological inpatient rehabilitation and beyond?","authors":"Juergen M Giesler,&nbsp;Joachim Weis,&nbsp;Reiner Caspari,&nbsp;Timm Dauelsberg,&nbsp;Wilfried Hoffmann,&nbsp;Jürgen Körber,&nbsp;Hans-Helge Bartsch","doi":"10.1002/pon.5839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5839","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The construct of Patient Competencies (PCs) has been suggested to allow a more comprehensive understanding of cancer patients' abilities to confront emotion- and problem-focused coping tasks arising from the diagnosis, treatment and survivorship of cancer. While providing a reliable and valid measure of PCs, research thus far has not clarified whether PCs change across time and/or through intervention. This study asks whether PCs change during oncological inpatient rehabilitation and beyond.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>N = 377 breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer patients from clinics for oncological rehabilitation were included to complete self-report measures of PC, coping and self-efficacy for coping with cancer at the beginning and the end of rehabilitation and 9 months afterward. In order to determine differences between tumor diagnostic groups and changes across time 3 (tumor site) x 3 (time) repeated measures analyses of variance were computed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Tumor diagnostic groups differed only marginally in PCs, coping self-efficacy and coping. The PCs of self-regulation and managing distress and coping self-efficacy improved slightly during rehabilitation but returned to initial levels at 9 months. Differential improvement was evident in the competencies of seeking information and interest in social services. Two of five coping behaviors decreased markedly from the end of rehabilitation to follow-up.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study suggests that oncological inpatient rehabilitation may contribute to advancing PCs, albeit to a limited extent. Aside from addressing conceptual, diagnostic and measurement issues, future research should clarify which interventions may be most effective for advancing problem- and emotion-focused PCs.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"577-586"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39539186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using suicide notes to understand suicide among cancer patients: A mixed-method study.","authors":"Yu Vera Men,&nbsp;Cheuk Yui Yeung,&nbsp;Tai-Chung Lam,&nbsp;Paul Siu Fai Yip,&nbsp;Clifton R Emery","doi":"10.1002/pon.5845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5845","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cancer patients are at risk of suicide. However, no studies have used suicide notes to investigate their expressed reasons for suicide. The objectives of this study were to compare the characteristics between note leavers and non-leavers among cancer suicide cases and to understand the patterns in expressed reasons for suicide using suicide notes.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Suicide cases (2012-2017) were identified from the Hong Kong Coroner's Court reports, which provide detailed information as well as the content of suicide notes. Bivariate tests and multiple logistic regression were performed to compare the characteristics of note leavers and non-leavers among suicide cases with cancer. Thematic analysis was performed on suicide notes to extract themes of expressed reasons for suicides by cancer status and age group.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among cancer suicide cases and compared to non-leavers, note leavers were younger, more likely to be male, use non-violent suicide methods, have better housing conditions, and live alone. Suffering from physical disease was a major theme identified among cancer note leavers across all age groups. Young and middle-aged non-cancer note leavers had various themes identified. Physical illness was the major theme for elderly non-cancer note leavers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Cancer note leavers had unique characteristics and suffering from physical illness was the major expressed reason identified in the suicide notes. Healthcare professionals should pay attention to the mental as well as the physical needs of patients. Improving quality of life and regaining control of life are vital for suicide prevention among cancer patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"614-621"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39561896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coping response and family communication of cancer risk in men harboring a BRCA mutation: A mixed methods study.","authors":"Andrew A Dwyer,&nbsp;Sharlene Hesse-Biber,&nbsp;Hannah Shea,&nbsp;Ziwei Zeng,&nbsp;Shiya Yi","doi":"10.1002/pon.5831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5831","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Providing genetic counseling and genetic testing to at-risk blood relatives (cascade screening) is important for improving BRCA cancer outcomes. Intra-familial communication of risk is critical for cascade screening efforts yet relatively little is known about men's role in communicating BRCA risk. We sought to examine men's coping response to their BRCA status and intra-familial communication of risk to inform the development of tailored interventions that could promote cascade screening.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We employed a sequential mixed-methods design. First, we measured coping response (quantitative) using the Multidimensional Impact of Cancer Risk Assessment (MICRA). MICRA scores were compared between BRCA+ men, BRCA- men and BRCA+ women. Subsequently, we used template analysis to analyze qualitative interviews exploring coping and intra-familial communication of risk. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) served as a guiding framework for identifying intervention targets.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>BRCA+ men (n = 36) had significantly higher levels of distress (p < 0.001), uncertainty (p < 0.001) and negative experiences (p < 0.05) compared to BRCA- male counterparts (n = 23). BRCA+ men had significantly lower distress (p < 0.001) and uncertainty (p < 0.001) than BRCA+ women (n = 406). Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with BRCA+ men (n = 35) identified promoters and barriers to active coping response and intra-familial communication of risk. Mapping results onto the TPB identified targets for tailoring person-centered approaches for men addressing beliefs/attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Men and women appear to have different coping responses to learning their BRCA status. Developing tailored (sex-based), theory informed interventions may help promote intra-familial communication of BRCA risk and support cascade screening.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"486-495"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39466800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations between markers of social functioning and depression and quality of life in survivors of head and neck cancer: Findings from the Head and Neck Cancer 5000 study.","authors":"Joanne M Patterson,&nbsp;Liya Lu,&nbsp;Laura-Jayne Watson,&nbsp;Sam Harding,&nbsp;Andy R Ness,&nbsp;Steve Thomas,&nbsp;Andrea Waylen,&nbsp;Miranda Pring,&nbsp;Tim Waterboer,&nbsp;Linda Sharp","doi":"10.1002/pon.5830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5830","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To investigate associations between markers of social functioning (trouble with social eating and social contact), depression and health-related quality of life (QOL) among head and neck cancer survivors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional analysis included individuals with oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, salivary gland and thyroid cancers from Head and Neck 5000 alive at 12 months. Trouble with social eating and social contact were measured using items from EORTC QLQ-H&N35 and QOL using EORTC QLQ-C30; responses were converted into a score of 0-100, with a higher score equalling more trouble or better QOL. A HADS subscale score of ≥8 was considered significant depression. Associations between tertiles of trouble with social eating and social contact and depression and QoL were assessed using multivariable logistic and linear regression (with robust errors), respectively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 2561 survivors, 23% reported significant depression. The median QOL score was 75.0 (interquartile range 58.3-83.3). For trouble with social eating, after confounder adjustment, those in the intermediate and highest tertiles had higher odds of depression (intermediate: OR = 4.5, 95% CI 3.19-6.45; high: OR = 21.8, 15.17-31.18) and lower QOL (intermediate:β = -8.7, 95% CI -10.35 to -7.14; high: β = -24.8, -26.91 to -22.77). Results were similar for trouble with social contact.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We found strong clinically important associations between markers of social functioning and depression and QOL. More effective interventions addressing social eating and contact are required. These may help survivors regain their independence, reduce levels of isolation and loneliness, and depression, and improve QOL outcomes generally.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"478-485"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39472368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychiatric symptoms mediate the effect of resilience on health-related quality of life in patients with breast cancer: Longitudinal examination.","authors":"Sungwon Lee,&nbsp;Saim Jung,&nbsp;Sanghyup Jung,&nbsp;Jung Yoon Moon,&nbsp;Gyu Han Oh,&nbsp;Chan-Woo Yeom,&nbsp;Kyung-Lak Son,&nbsp;Kwang-Min Lee,&nbsp;Won-Hyoung Kim,&nbsp;Dooyoung Jung,&nbsp;Tae-Yong Kim,&nbsp;Seock-Ah Im,&nbsp;Kyung-Hun Lee,&nbsp;Eun-Jung Shim,&nbsp;Bong-Jin Hahm","doi":"10.1002/pon.5829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5829","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy are at increased risk of poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study examined clinical caseness on depression and anxiety mediate the relationship between resilience and HRQOL in patients with breast cancer.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 193 patients with breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy completed questionnaires including the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast before the first session (T0), before the start of the last session (T1), and 6 months after the end (T2) of chemotherapy. Mediation analyses using a bootstrapping method was performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The indirect effect (IE) through T1 depression was significant (IE through depression = 0.043, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.002-0.090]), while IE through T1 anxiety was not significant (IE through anxiety = 0.037, 95% CI [-0.010-0.097]) in the association between T0 resilience and T2 HRQOL.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Clinical caseness on HADS depression subscale during chemotherapy was a mediating factor of the relationship between resilience before chemotherapy and HRQOL after chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Depression during chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer may be a target symptom of screening and intervention to maintain the HRQOL after chemotherapy. Also, patients with low resilience are more likely to develop depression during chemotherapy, and clinicians should carefully monitor whether depression occurs in these patients with low resilience.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"470-477"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39535386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A longitudinal investigation of posttraumatic growth and its associated factors among head and neck cancer survivors.","authors":"Nur Amirah Hamdan,&nbsp;Norhaliza Abd Hamid,&nbsp;Mohammad Farris Iman Leong Bin Abdullah","doi":"10.1002/pon.5835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5835","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Posttraumatic growth (PTG) may improve well-being among cancer survivors, but a longitudinal study addressing head and neck cancer (HNC) is lacking. This longitudinal study examined PTG trends and determined the associations of physical symptoms and complications, as well as sociodemographic and tumor characteristics on PTG over time among HNC survivors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants completed the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer's \"Quality of Life Questionnaire-Head and Neck 35\" module (EORTC-QLQ-H&N-35) and \"Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form\" (PTGI-SF) during baseline (T₁ ) and follow-up (T₂ ; 5-7 months post-baseline) assessments.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 200 HNC participants completed the study and 67.5% of them reported increasing PTG. Physical symptoms and complications that were significantly associated with lower PTG included problems with social contact and the senses. Meanwhile, sociodemographic variables that were significantly associated with PTG were gender (males had lower PTG than females) and religion (Muslims and Buddhists had higher PTG than participants of other religious faith).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings revealed the need to focus on the impact of sensory issues and reduced social contact following HNC on PTG which may be addressed by various restorative and supportive rehabilitation therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"504-511"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39541826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence of collusion in cancer communications: A meta-analysis.","authors":"Roshan Sutar, Pooja Chaudhary, Vikas Yadav","doi":"10.1002/pon.5824","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pon.5824","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Collusion is the non-disclosure of information about diagnosis or prognosis, frequently encountered in cancer care and palliative services. Unraveling collusion is a skill and differences among communication techniques by Health Care Workers have maintained the process of non-disclosure to patients and caregivers. Identifying the prevalence of collusion in cancer care is required to improve the existing strategies across the world.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic review of the literature from 1991 to 2020 in the English language was conducted with the protocol registration on PROSPERO ID (CRD 42021249216.) to identify the pooled prevalence of collusion.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>By using random effect model, the pooled prevalence estimate among patients for the diagnostic and prognostic collusion was 24.15, (95% CI [17.09; 32.96], Tou2 = 1.0801, I²  = 97.9%, Cochran's Q = 1058.22, df = 21, p-value < 0.001) and 37.92, (95% CI [22.46; 56.30], Tou2 = 1.9641, I²  = 98.6%, Cochran's Q = 944.26, df = 13, p-value < 0.001) respectively. There was no difference across subgroups with different types of setting for the interview, WHO regions and trend over the years.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Substantial prevalence of collusion goes unnoticed in cancer care. A meaningful understanding of such a large prevalence requires inquiry into the existing communication paradigm in cancer care across the world. The findings also question the need of formulating uniform interview techniques and structured assessment tools or questionnaires in cancer care to improve the disclosure rates.</p>","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"372-387"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39447199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A patient centred approach to measuring outcomes in psycho-oncology services: The PHQ-8 as a viable alternative to the PHQ-9.","authors":"Caroline Dancyger,&nbsp;Kyle Kelleher,&nbsp;Mark Barrington","doi":"10.1002/pon.5842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5842","url":null,"abstract":"Demonstrating both quality and outcomes in health services ensures patients receive care that is safe, effective, patient‐centred, timely, efficient, and equitable. Quality addresses the clinical and operational aspects of care, alongside patient experience. Outcomes typically refer to the measurement of an intervention's impact. Within psychological services, this is often demonstrated through standardised patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). There is no agreed standard for measuring outcome in UK psycho‐oncology services. In 2015, the British Psychological Society published guidance to such services, proposing a network‐level multifactorial approach, that uses a combination of PROMs with normative data from UK cancer populations, that do not place undue burden on patients. Whilst there is variability in PROMs used, the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9), a reliable and valid tool for measuring depressive symptomatology in the cancer population, has been widely adopted. Psycho‐oncology services within North Central and East London have worked together to develop a system wide approach to measuring outcomes.During a reviewof our approach in 2018,we held a focus group to glean service users' views on eight commonly used, standardisedPROMs.We invited service userswhohad received some form of psychological care from our regional psycho‐oncology services to participate; 10 participated. Across all the questionnaires considered, Item‐9 from thePHQ‐9 (‘Thoughts that youwould be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way’) received the most consistent criticism. Participants described the question as ‘insensitive’, ‘brutal’, and ‘jarring’ in the context of a life‐threatening illness. Additionally, they were confused about what the question was asking (referring to suicidality or self‐harm) and expressed concerns that endorsing such an item may cause them to be labelled as mentally ill by their cancer teams. They understood that some people may have thoughts around suicide or self‐harm, but thought these would be better addressed in a different way, not included in a questionnaire. As this focus group was part of a service evaluation, participants were not asked for personal details, including the reason they had received care from a psycho‐ oncology services or whether they had previously reported suicidality. Whilst the wide spread clinical utility of, and familiarity with, the PHQ‐9 in the UK has been a strong rationale for its continued use,","PeriodicalId":516935,"journal":{"name":"Psycho-Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"548-550"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39744358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}