Providing psychosocial support for breast cancer patients based on screening for distress within a consultation‐liaison service

Abstract

In a consecutive sample of 100 breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, cancer-related distress was assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and patients' interest in and acceptance of psychosocial support with the Questionnaire for Psychosocial Support and the European Consultation Liaison Workgroup documentation form. 31% of the patients suffered moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression and 42% expressed interest in supportive counselling. The wish for psychosocial support did not correlate with distress (moderate or severe anxiety and/or depression; Kappa = 0.06; P = 0.560). Patients with elevated levels of distress and/or those expressing a wish for psychosocial support were offered counselling by a psychotherapist and a social worker within the framework of a liaison service; 69% of the 58 patients offered such support accepted it. We conclude that screening instruments are helpful in identifying and consequently offering support to patients in need of counselling.

Distress screening in a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic: Prevalence and predictors of clinically significant distress

“…Our results indicate a relationship between distress level and interest in support services; however, previous research did not find such a relationship between distress level and interest in services [44]. Support services may not be palatable for a number of reasons, including stigmatization of needing psychological support [19], lack of knowledge of available support for distress symptoms, or lack of interest in what is perceived as traditional "talk therapy" [17].…”

Cancer patients' desire for psychological support: prevalence and implications for screening patients' psychological needs

“…This has been reported before [48]. Some types of coping strategies used however were associated with patients' desire for psychological support whether formal or informal: in this study, only supportseeking strategies are associated with an increased desire for psychological support.…”

Effects of screening for psychological distress on patient outcomes in cancer: A systematic review

“…In many cancer care settings, however, high numbers of patients are already treated with antidepressants as an attempt to address distress, even though many of these patients do not have depression or a history of depression [65]. Furthermore, as illustrated by one study from Austria [66], the desire for psychosocial support to cope with cancer may not be correlated with distress levels, and nearly as many patients with low levels of distress may desire supportive care as patients above the cutoff criterion on a screening tool. Thus, better patient psychosocial care may be best achieved by providing more information and coordinating care pathways, rather than seeking to automate triage processes through mechanized screening and numerical algorithms.…”