Psychological Distress in Cancer Patients
Journal Title: Middle East Journal of Cancer - Year 2018, Vol 9, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: The psychological distress is a kind of mental stress that people experience due to various causes. This study was performed aimed to investigate the psychological distress in cancer patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed during one year on the patients who referred to two academic hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences for treatment or follow-up. Psychological distress questionnaire was used to collect data. Results were analyzed using SPSS version 16. P <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean (±SD) age of participants was 54 ± 15.30 with a range from 18 to 89. The most common cancers were colorectal, gastro-esophageal and breast cancer. The mean distress thermometer score was 5 ± 2.99. Out of 256, 173 (67.7%) of patients scored 4 or higher. The distress thermometer scores were higher among females, rural residents, those receiving treatment within the month before, patients with insight of their illness, those with low level of education and low functional status, non-smokers and divorced patients. Among these, having insight of the illness, receiving treatment in the month before and low functional status were significantly related with the psychological distress score. The most prevalent cause of psychological distress among the participants was fatigue, being reported by 176 participant (68.8%), followed by pain (59.4%), difficulty in transportation (59.4%), anxiety (57.2%), sadness (50.4%), anger (44.5%), and depression (43.8%). Conclusion: Due to higher rate of severe emotional distress in different types of cancer, particularly in women, rural patients, those with lower educational status and performance and also divorced and addicted people, it is important to pay more attention to these groups for decreasing emotional distress. It required supportive and relief measures including psychological methods and reducing pain to improve the performance of these patients
Authors and Affiliations
Ali Taghizadeh, Leila Pourali, Zahra Vaziri, Hamid Reza Saedi, Fatemeh Behdani, Roya Amel
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP303049
- DOI -
- Views 67
- Downloads 0
Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements on Cancer-related Fatigue in an Outpatient Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Background: Fatigue, as one of the most common side effects of cancer and its associated treatments, induces a distressing, persistent, and inward feeling. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effect of the om...
Prognostic Factors of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: An Egyptian Single Institution Experience
Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is an extremely aggressive cancer that has a very poor outcome. We have analyzed predictive factors for overall survival and different therapeutic modalities that could help to de...
Evaluation of Promoter Hypermethylation of Tumor-Suppressor Genes p14 and p16 in Iranian Endometrial Carcinoma Patients
Background: Endometrial cancer is a common gynecological malignancy with good prognosis in the early stages of the disease. The CpG island in the promoter region of tumor-suppressor genes are frequently methylated in var...
Extranodal Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: The Impact of Different Variables on the Disease
Background: Extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (ENL) occurs in 25-40% of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients. The objective of this study is to analyze the incidence, anatomical distribution, histopathological subtypes, pro...
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Mimicking a Locally Advanced Renal Mass: A Case Report
Renal masses can be categorized as benign and malignant lesions. Among the renal malignancies, renal cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy. However, other rare malignant lesions should be considered in differentia...