The ‘Distress Barometer’: validation of method of combining the Distress Thermometer with a rated complaint scale

Bauwens, Sabien; Baillon, Catherine; Distelmans, Wim; Theuns, Peter

doi:10.1002/pon.1425

Cited by 52 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…While the dichotomous problem list can provide additional information as to sources of distress and suggest referral needs, ''Yes'' or ''No'' answers are less likely to yield clinically useful information regarding response to an intervention and may not adequately represent the patient's total response to a specific problem area or the weight that problem carries for them in terms of distress. In order to address this issue, Akizuki et al added an Impact Thermometer to the DT to increase specificity and evaluate impairment of social functioning [41], and researchers in Belgium combined the DT with the colored complaint scale to create the ''Distress Barometer'' with the goal of improving the specificity of distress screening without decreasing the sensitivity of the DT [42].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the Distress Thermometer to discern clinically relevant quality of life differences in women with breast cancer

et al. 2011

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the Distress Thermometer to discern clinically relevant quality of life differences in women with breast cancer

et al. 2011

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“…In the SEPO study, Gil et al [34] found that a Mood Thermometer (MT) worked better than the DT in identifying patients with depression, suggesting that adding a specific 'mood' dimension could improve assessment in oncology clinics. A modification of the DT was proposed by Bauwens et al [35] who developed the Distress Barometer (DB) as a tool combining the DT and a Coloured Complaint Scale, aimed at improving the specificity of distress screening without decreasing the sensitivity of the DT and favouring the interpretation "at a single glance" of the nature and the intensity of distress in ambulatory cancer patients. More recently, Mitchell et al [36,37], developed a five-dimensional tool, the Emotion Thermometers (ET), as a combination of five Visual-Analogue Scales (VAS) in the form of four predictor domains (distress, anxiety, depression, anger) and one outcome domain (need for help).…”

Section: Clinical Limitations and Educational Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional distress in cancer: screening policy, clinical limitations and educational needs

2010

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Several studies have shown that 30–40% of cancer patients present psychosocial disorders according to the DSM-IV and WHO ICD-10 disease classification systems and a further 20-25% suffer from psychosocial conditions deserving medical attention (e.g., health anxiety, demoralisation). In order to increase the likelihood that cancer patients with psychosocial distress can be detected and offered opportunity to be helped, guidelines and psychological instruments such as the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology on Distress Management and the Distress Thermometer (DT) have been developed and applied in cancer settings. A cutoff score of 4–5 on the DT has been repeatedly shown to optimise sensitivity and specificity in identifying “cases” both among cancer patients and their family members. However, clinical limitations have been raised regarding the DT. The tool can benefit from changes increasing its capacity to capture different psychological dimensions, Furthermore, the policy of screening for emotional distress in cancer patients is only the first step, and it may prove to no avail if not followed by more specific psychosocial oncology programmes aimed at improving referral and adherence to referral of cancer patients with high levels of emotional distress

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“…• "Escala coloreada" (Colored Complaint Scale, CCS) (26) . Identifica y cuantifica las fuentes de estrés percibido a través de 9 ítems que se responden según una escala coloreada con 5 opciones de respuesta (0, "ninguna molestia" y 4, "mucha molestia".…”

Section: Instrumentosunclassified

“…Además, el DT mostró la correlación más alta con los problemas de origen emocional y se asoció con cada uno de los problemas emocionales concretos evaluados: "nerviosismo/ansiedad", "tristeza" y, en menor grado, "ira". Así y contrariamente a los resultados obtenidos por otros autores (26) , nuestros datos respaldan la validez del DT en cuanto medida del rango de respuestas emocionales que engloba el término distrés.…”

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Precisión diagnóstica del termómetro de distrés en neoplasias hematológicas

et al. 2016

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ResumenObjetivo: El presente trabajo extiende la investigación previa sobre la validez y precisión diagnóstica del Termómetro de Distrés (DT) para detectar distrés psicosocial en pacientes con cáncer españoles. El DT es un instrumento habitual de screening, al que, recientemente y con el objetivo de mejorar su exactitud diagnóstica, se ha propuesto añadir otras herramientas, como el Termómetro de Impacto (IT).Método: En este estudio analizamos la sintomatología emocional que apresa el DT y la exactitud diagnóstica que alcanza sólo o combinado con el IT mediante dos procedimientos diferentes. Un total de 81 pacientes adultos con cáncer hematológico completaron el DT, la Escala de Quejas Coloreada (CCS), el IT y el Inventario Breve de Síntomas-18 (BSI-18). La precisión diagnóstica del DT e IT se exploró a través de medidas globales -Área Bajo la Curva ROC (AUC)-, medidas de ocurrencia (Se y Sp), medidas de discriminación (PPV y NPV) e índices de utilidad clínica (UIs).Resultado: Los resultados obtenidos fueron comparables a los hallados en estudios previos indicando que el DT es adecuado para la tarea de "screening", si bien su rendimiento en la "identificación de caso" es limitado. Además, los índices de precisión asociados al uso combinado del DT y el IT sólo mostraron diferencias menores respecto a los obtenidos por el DT. AbstractObjective: The present study extends the previous investigation about validity and diagnostic accuracy of the DT for detecting psychosocial distress among Spanish cancer patients. The Distress Thermometer (DT) is a common screening tool, but other methodssuch as Impact Thermometer (IT)-have recently been proposed with the aim of improving its diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, we investigated the emotional symptomatology captured by the DT, and the diagnostic accuracy of both the DT alone and combined with the IT, using two possible combination methods.Methods: A sample of 81 adult patients with hematologic cancer completed the DT, the Colored Complaint Scale (CCS), the IT and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18). Several indexes were calculated to study the diagnostic accuracy: the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve (AUC); measures of occurrence (Se y Sp), measures of discrimination (PPV and NPV) and clinical utility indexes (UIs).Results: The results of the DT were comparable with those found in previous studies, indicating that the DT is adequate for 'screening', but has limited value for 'case finding'. Furthermore, the DT and the IT combined show minor differences in accuracy indexes compared with the DT alone.

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The ‘Distress Barometer’: validation of method of combining the Distress Thermometer with a rated complaint scale

Abstract: These results indicate that the Distress Barometer, which is convenient for both patients and doctors, can be used as an acceptable, brief and sufficiently accurate method for detecting distress in cancer patients.

Cited by 52 publications

References 46 publications

Use of the Distress Thermometer to discern clinically relevant quality of life differences in women with breast cancer

Use of the Distress Thermometer to discern clinically relevant quality of life differences in women with breast cancer

Emotional distress in cancer: screening policy, clinical limitations and educational needs

Precisión diagnóstica del termómetro de distrés en neoplasias hematológicas

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