Psychological distress in cancer patients assessed with an expert rating scale
Title
Psychological distress in cancer patients assessed with an expert rating scale
Creator
Herschbach P; Book K; Brandl T; Keller M; Lindena G; Neuwohner K; Marten-Mittag B
Identifier
Publisher
British Journal Of Cancer
Date
2008
Subject
Female; Humans; Male; Adult; Aged; Middle Aged; Health Status; Sex Factors; Psychometrics; adolescent; 80 and over; Psychological; Stress; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Neoplasms/psychology
Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate psychosocial stress in a large sample of cancer patients using an expert rating scale. Specific aims were to analyse the relevance of setting variables (type of clinic, contact initiative, therapy) and gender. A total of 6365 patients were assessed in 105 institutions. Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of setting variables indicated that patients treated in palliative care settings showed highest distress scores compared to patients recruited from hospitals and outpatient clinics (P<0.001). Significant differences were also found for contact initiative (P<0.001); lowest distress was found in patients who were recruited by routine contact. Patients who asked for psychosocial support or who were recruited by the medical staff showed the highest distress scores. The analysis of therapy groups showed that patients receiving radiotherapy or surgery were not more distressed than patients without therapy. The most distressing treatment was chemotherapy. Gender had differential effects on clinic type (P<0.001) and contact initiative (P<0.001) but not on treatment and diagnosis. Expert rating scales are an important complement for self-assessment questionnaires to evaluate psychological distress of cancer patients in psychosocial studies as well as in routine medical care.
2008
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Type
Journal Article
Citation List Month
Backlog
URL Address
Citation
Herschbach P; Book K; Brandl T; Keller M; Lindena G; Neuwohner K; Marten-Mittag B, “Psychological distress in cancer patients assessed with an expert rating scale,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 24, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/14312.