Supportive Care Needs of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Referred to Palliative Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) face a unique set of unmet needs. A subset of these patients experience symptom control challenges related to their disease burden and treatments. A multidisciplinary approach involving palliative medicine is underutilized but crucial to identify and address these concerns. There is limited information on palliative integration with head and neck oncology. STUDY DESIGN: Case series with planned data collection. SETTING: Academic quaternary care center. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We provide descriptive analyses of patients with HNC, including psychodiagnostic assessment and validated quality-of-life screening, from patients' first encounter at outpatient palliative medicine. RESULTS: HNC (N = 80) contributed the greatest number of palliative referrals (25%) between 2010 and 2012. This cohort was 74% male and 79% Caucasian with a mean age of 53 years (95% CI, 51.1-54.9) and with stage IV disease of the oral cavity (28%) or oropharynx (31%). Sixty-three percent of patients had no evidence of disease. Seventy-five percent had a psychological history based on DSM-IV criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition), and 70% had a history of substance use disorder. The most distressing quality-of-life concerns were pain, housing and financial problems, and xerostomia. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HNC who were referred to palliative medicine are burdened by multiple physical, psychological, substance use, and social challenges. We recommend comprehensive cancer-specific screening, such as the James Supportive Care Screening, to triage patients to appropriate supportive care services. Palliative care is one of many services that these patients may need, and it should be utilized at any point of the disease trajectory rather than reserved for end-of-life care.

Pilot randomized controlled trial of a symptom cluster intervention in advanced cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated a three-session acceptance-based cognitive behavioral -acceptance and commitment therapy (CBT-ACT) intervention targeting a common symptom cluster in advanced cancer-worry-insomnia-depression-fatigue. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with advanced cancer were randomly assigned to the CBT-ACT intervention or waitlist. At preintervention, participants completed a psychodiagnostic interview, standardized questionnaires, and a sleep diary. Intervention and waitlist groups were reassessed after 6 weeks, at which point the waitlist group completed the intervention. RESULTS: Participants receiving the intervention demonstrated improved sleep efficiency (P = 0.0062, d = 1.08), sleep latency (P = 0.028, d = -0.86), insomnia severity (P = 0.0047, d = -1.18), and worry (P = 0.026, d = -0.89) compared with waitlist controls. They also demonstrated a 7-point reduction on depression (P = 0.03, d = -0.88), reduced hyperarousal (P = 0.005, d = -1.51), and a decrease in distress (P = 0.032, d = -0.83). Effects were maintained for the whole sample in sensitivity analyses. Effects on uncertainty intolerance approached significance (P = 0.058). No effect was found on fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The CBT-ACT group performed significantly better than the waitlist control group. CBT-ACT yielded strong effects for worry, sleep, depression, emotional distress, total distress, and hyperarousal. Future studies will enhance the fatigue and uncertainty tolerance components of the intervention.

ICU versus Non-ICU Hospital Death: Family Member Complicated Grief, Posttraumatic Stress, and Depressive Symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Family members of patients who die in an ICU are at increased risk of psychological sequelae compared to those who experience a death in hospice. OBJECTIVE: This study explored differences in rates and levels of complicated grief (CG), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression between family members of patients who died in an ICU versus a non-ICU hospital setting. Differences in family members' most distressing experiences at the patient's end of life were also explored. METHODS: The study was an observational cohort. Subjects were next of kin of 121 patients who died at a large, Midwestern academic hospital; 77 died in the ICU. Family members completed measures of CG, PTSD, depression, and end-of-life experiences. RESULTS: Participants were primarily Caucasian (93%, N = 111), female (81%, N = 98), spouses (60%, N = 73) of the decedent, and were an average of nine months post-bereavement. Forty percent of family members met the Inventory of Complicated Grief CG cut-off, 31% met the Impact of Events Scale-Revised PTSD cut-off, and 51% met the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale depression cut-off. There were no significant differences in rates or levels of CG, PTSD, or depressive symptoms reported by family members between hospital settings. Several distressing experiences were ranked highly by both groups, but each setting presented unique distressing experiences for family members. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological distress of family members did not differ by hospital setting, but the most distressing experiences encountered at end of life in each setting highlight potentially unique interventions to reduce distress post-bereavement for family members.

Optimism, social support, and adjustment in African American women with breast cancer.

Past studies show that optimism and social support are associated with better adjustment following breast cancer treatment. Most studies have examined these relationships in predominantly non-Hispanic White samples. The present study included 77 African American women treated for nonmetastatic breast cancer. Women completed measures of optimism, social support, and adjustment within 10-months of surgical treatment. In contrast to past studies, social support did not mediate the relationship between optimism and adjustment in this sample. Instead, social support was a moderator of the optimism-adjustment relationship, as it buffered the negative impact of low optimism on psychological distress, well-being, and psychosocial functioning. Women with high levels of social support experienced better adjustment even when optimism was low. In contrast, among women with high levels of optimism, increasing social support did not provide an added benefit. These data suggest that perceived social support is an important resource for women with low optimism.