Prospective study about depression in oncology and assessment of the medical decision-making strategy.

Abstract

e19684 Background: Depression in one the most common psychiatric illness in patients with cancer and it is known to reduce quality of life. The study of depression has been a challenge because symptoms occur on a broad spectrum that ranges from sadness to major affective disorder because mood change is often difficult to evaluate in palliative situation. Many depressed patients in oncology are not treated due to the difficulty in assessment. Difficulties in assessment may be due to nondisclosure by patients who may feel they are wasting the doctor's time. There is also the mistaken belief among some professionals that the cancer invariably causes depression. Our hypothesis is that depressive symptoms are overlooked whereas others symptoms like anxiety are easily detect. Aim: To assess oncologists decision making strategy for depression's management and to assess how they manage depression. Methods: It was a multicenter prospective study. We used a qualitative-quantitative design with all the oncologist of three cancer center. Results: Thirty-four physicians were included in our study. The mean age of our sample was 44 years. The mean duration of interviews was 17 min 45 (from 11 min to 27 min ). The first results are that the oncologists' evaluation of depressive symptoms is heterogeneous, with a low rate of physicians using a screening tool. They are in the majority favorable to a systematic screening procedure despite the lack of time they underline. They don't use any algorithm for the management of their patients' depression. The discourse analysis is still in progress and will be presented at the congress. Conclusions: We hope that this research will help us to understand the underdiagnosis off depression in oncology. An other expected result is the sensibilization of the carrers to the management of depression. Last, we hope that these data will help up us to propose new strategies. No significant financial relationships to disclose.