Brief Distress Screening in Clinical Practice: Does it Help to Effectively Allocate Psycho-Oncological Support to Female Cancer Inpatients?

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of distress screening in cancer inpatient settings has rarely been investigated. This study evaluated a brief distress screening of inpatients in a breast cancer centre and a gynaecological cancer centre. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hospitalised patients with breast or gynaecological cancers were screened with the Distress Thermometer. Patients who scored above the cut-off, were referred by the medical staff, or self-referred were offered bedside psycho-oncological counselling. RESULTS: Of 125 patients, 68 (54.4%) received an offer of counselling, and 62 patients (49.6%) accepted. Most of the counselling was induced by distress screening. Only 4 (3.2%) patients self-referred to the counselling service. Of the counselled patients, 65.8% stated that they had substantially benefited from psycho-oncological support; only 5.6% of the non-counselled patients indicated that they might have benefited from psycho-oncological support. CONCLUSION: Almost all patients who will accept and benefit from psycho-oncological counselling can be identified if distress screening is used in conjunction with referrals by physicians and nurses. Distress screening is a worthwhile component in a framework of psycho-oncological support in a cancer inpatient setting. It paves the way to counselling for cancer inpatients who need it and are willing to accept it but hesitate to self-refer to psycho-oncological services.

[Shared decision-making in primary breast cancer]. / Partizipative Entscheidungsfindung beim primären Mammakarzinom.

Following an overall view of the emotional situation of primary breast cancer patients and of studies exploring shared decision making in this setting we present the results of qualitative analyses about breaking bad news situations and interviews with this group of patients and describe both methods for implementing shared decision making in the treatment of primary breast cancer and an evaluation study. The main result was that most patients showed a lack of information about breast cancer and its therapy, which led to uncertainty. Another source of uncertainty was the lack of preoperative punch biopsy. Due to the so-called "diagnostic shock" patients felt under pressure to make a quick decision over their treatment. This perceived pressure can be effectively countered by a shared decision making approach. To investigate the options in breast cancer therapy, decision aids for diagnostic and therapeutic options have been developed focusing on the following treatment modalities: 1. breast conserving therapy and radiation versus radical mastectomy 2. chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy versus endocrine therapy alone 3. preoperative versus postoperative chemotherapy. The decision instruments in question were tested in N = 35 breast cancer patients and N = 36 nurses as a control group. The results of a questionnaire survey among both these groups revealed a very positive appraisal of the decision aids. Implementation in daily routine was favoured.