Measuring psychological distress in cancer patients in general practice

Mária Markó-Kucsera, Aida Edina Ali, Zsuzsanna Máté, Edit Paulik

Keywords: cancer, distress

Background:

Healthcare practitioners generally focus on medical treatment of cancer patients, although their mental support is of paramount importance for the success of therapy. The widely used measures of anxiety and depression in oncology patients do not provide adequate insight into the subjective health status of patients.

Research questions:

This study aimed to assess the cancer-specific distress and the association between the psychological distress and the demographic and medical variables of patients.

Method:

A cross-sectional study was delivered in two oncological wards in the Southern Great Plain, Hungary. Altogether 210 patients completed the self-reported questionnaire including the Hungarian adaptation of the Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients (QSC-R23). The participation was voluntary and anonymous. IBM SPSS 28.0 software was used for the statistical procedure. The associations were analysed by univariate and multivariate tests.

Results:

The most common cancer in men was colorectal tumour and breast tumour in women. On the base of the mean stress scores of the 23 items, the biggest stressors were fatigue (mean (M): 1.94;), fear of disease progression (M: 1.91) and sleeping problems (M:1.70). The score for sleeping problems was significantly higher in females than in males (p=0.008). Significantly higher score was found among patients with low education in connection with the information given by doctors (p<0.040). The highest total distress score was observed in breast cancer patients (p<0.009).

Conclusions:

Cancer patients need intensive supportive psychosocial care. The use of this cancer-specific questionnaire provides a more accurate insight into patients' everyday experiences, improve the level of confidence and increase therapeutic efficacy in both primary and specialist routine care. The widespread use of this measurement tool in the primary care practice would be of great importance, since it is particularly relevant that each patient in need of support should be identified correctly and in a timely manner.

Points for discussion:

How can we use the results of this research to improve mental health support systems for cancer patients?

How can we reduce the negative impact of the inadequate doctor-patient communications?

How can we encourage primary care doctors and nurses to assess the mental health of cancer patients at regular intervals?

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