Purpose In clinical cancer care, distress screening is recommended to identify highly burdened patients in objective need for psychosocial support to improve psychological distress and quality of life and to enhance patient empowerment. It is however unclear whether distress screeners are suitable for psychosocial care planning and thus whether they can predict the willingness that is need, intention, and utilization, to seek psychosocial support. Methods In a secondary analysis of a cluster intervention study, we assessed cancer patients with three distress screeners (DT, PHQ-9, GAD-7) at baseline. The willingness to seek psychosocial support services was assessed binary for psychosocial services at 3 and 6 months. Logistic regression models were applied to examine the predictive effect of the screeners on need, intention, and utilization. We corrected all models for multiple testing. Results The 660 patients included in the study were on average 60 years, 54% were male. At the 3- and 6-month follow-up, 353 and 259 patients participated, respectively. The screeners were best in predicting the need for support (OR reaching up to 1.15, 1.20, and 1.22 for the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and DT respectively). The intention was predicted by the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, whereas utilization of psychosocial support services was not predicted by the screeners. Conclusion The three distress screeners might be useful in psychosocial care planning, as they are able to predict the need and to some degree the intention to seek psychosocial support. Future research needs to examine potential barriers and supporting factors that may explain utilization of psychosocial support. Trial registration The study was retrospectively registered (2/2021) at ClinicalTrials.gov (number: NCT04749056).

No abstract

Purpose of reviewThe interest in and availability of app-based psycho-oncological interventions for cancer survivors has grown rapidly. In this narrative review, we therefore aim to provide an overview of the psychological content features included in psycho-oncological apps and how the content is implemented in the apps.Recent findingsA total of 19 studies (six randomized controlled trials, six studies with prepost design, five study protocols and two app developments), all published in the last 18 months (July 2020 to December 2021), were analyzed in terms of the described app-based interventions and their psycho-oncological content. Apps for cancer survivors are conducted for a variety of different diagnoses and often target a specific patient population, for example patients with a specific therapy. The most frequent content features are psychoeducation, self-monitoring of symptoms, and some sort of exercise or relaxation program. Depending on the app's purpose, some offer specific content, such as decision aids, medication schedules or modules to improve coping strategies. Most apps combine informative and interactive elements.SummaryPsycho-oncological apps for cancer survivors target many relevant psychological problem areas and aim to improve patient empowerment. Available mHealth interventions can therefore be seen as a good complement for cancer care and also offer the possibility to improve patient involvement.

7139 Im oben genannten Artikel wurde als "Wissenschaftlich verantwortlich gemäß Zertifizierungsbestimmungen" der Name falsch angegeben. Richtig ist: Prof. Dr. med. Stephan Zipfel, Tübingen. Die Korrektur wurde in der Onlineversion des Artikels ausgeführt am: 23.09.2022 Erratum … PSYCH up2date 2022; 16 e1 Dieses Dokument wurde zum persönlichen Gebrauch heruntergeladen. Vervielfältigung nur mit Zustimmung des Verlages.

No abstract