Abstract
BackgroundPsychological distress is prevalent in patients with cancer, negatively affecting their treatment and quality of life. Clinical guidelines recommended screening all cancer patients routinely for psychological problems using simple measures such as the Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem List (PL). This study is the first research in Vietnam to identify the optimal DT cutoff point to screen distress and the relationship with PL items among cancer patients.Methods300 cancer patients were recruited from 10 departments at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital (K hospital) and completed the DT and PL. Participants also completed the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7) with standard cutoff scores for identifying significant depression and anxiety.ResultsReceiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses showed that a DT cutoff score of 4 had an area under the ROC curve of 0.81 and 0.82 using the PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7 cutoff scores of 10 as the criterion, respectively. This indicated good overall accuracy. This cutoff also showed a sensitivity of 0.87 and 0.92 for PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7 total score defined cases, respectively. Both specificity values were 0.58. In terms of the PL, 164 distressed patients (54.7%) reported significantly more emotional problems, family issues, and practical and physical problem, implying various causes contribute to psychological distress among cancer patients.ConclusionsThe study showed that the DT with a cutoff of 4 accompanied with PL is a simple and effective instrument compared to previous, longer measures commonly used to detect psychosocial distress in Vietnamese cancer patients. This cutoff point also identified patients with problems contributing towards distress.
Highlights
According to the Global Cancer Observatory 2020 (GCO), Vietnam witnessed 182,563 new cases of cancer and 122,690 deaths due to cancer.[1]
The main result from this study was that the Distress Thermometer (DT) was effective compared to the Patients Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and GAD-7 as a short measure of screening for psychological problems among Vietnamese cancer patients
It can be concluded that the DT with a cutoff of 4 is effective as a screening measure compared to the PHQ-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), based on the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.81 and 0.82, respectively
Summary
According to the Global Cancer Observatory 2020 (GCO), Vietnam witnessed 182,563 new cases of cancer and 122,690 deaths due to cancer.[1]. It is a fact that distress is common in the cancer population, especially depression and anxiety, but unrecognized by oncology professionals, especially depression and anxiety 5,6 These underestimated psychological problems can cause many negative outcomes, such as poor adherence to treatment and reduced satisfaction with care, leading to decreased effectiveness of treatment and lower quality of life 7–10. Conclusions: The study showed that the DT with a cutoff of 4 accompanied with PL is a simple and effective instrument compared to previous, longer measures commonly used to detect psychosocial distress in Vietnamese cancer patients. This cutoff point identified patients with problems contributing towards distress
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