Distress and influencing factors in pancreatobiliary cancer surgery patients

Abstract

Background: Pancreatobiliary cancer surgery is a very complex and extensive surgery. so patients feel high psychological stress due to fear of returning to daily life after surgery and as well as various physical symptoms. This study aims to identify the degree of distress experienced by pancreatobiliary cancer patients during the recovery period after surgery and to analyze the factors that affect it. Methods: This study retrospectively investigated a total of 141 patients who underwent surgery for pancreaticobiliary cancer between December 1, 2019 and September 30, 2021. Distress was measured using Distress Thermomenter (DT) and Problem List (PL) tools developed by NCCN. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze data. Results: A total of 141 patients were enrolled, and the average distress score was 6.31 (± 2.49). The moderate-severe distress group (DT ≥ 4) was 119 (84.4%), and the mild distress group (DT < 4) was 22 (15.6%). The list of problems that caused the patient's distress included pain (62.4%), sleep disturbance (51.1%), worry (48.2%), fear/digestion (39.0%), and difficulty eating (36.9%) appeared in order. Looking at the relationship between the distress groups according to the demographic and treatment-related characteristics of the subjects, gender (χ 2 = 4.48, p = 0.034) and occupational status (χ 2 = 8.75, p = 0.003) were statistically significant between the two groups. The relationship between the distress groups according to the list of distress problems of the subject was dyspepsia (χ 2 = 9.81, p = 0.002), difficulty eating (χ 2 = 3.92, p = 0.048), and difficulty with behavior (χ 2 = 4.19 p = 0.041), there were more subjects in the moderate-severe distress group than in the mild distress group. In order to identify the factors affecting the patient's distress, a binary logistic regression analysis was conducted by including gender, occupational status, and list of distress problems that were statistically significant. The factors contributing to patients distress were not statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Pancreaticobiliary cancer patients experience severe distress after surgery.