Comparison of patient ‐reported need of psycho‐oncologic support and the doctor's perspective: how do they relate to disease severity in melanoma patients?

ConclusionsOverall, the few and low associations suggest that need of psycho‐oncologic support and clinical variables were largely independent of each other and doctors' perception may not reflect the patient's view. Therefore, the assessment of the patient perspective is indispensable to ensure that melanoma patients receive appropriate support, as such need cannot be derived from other disease parameters or proxy report. More research is needed applying psychometrically robust instruments that are ideally combined with sensitive biomarkers to disentangle psycho‐neuro‐immune implications in melanoma patients. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Source: Psycho-Oncology - December 2, 2015 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Sandra Nolte, Sicco H. Mei, Kerstin Strehl ‐Schwarz, Johanna Köster, Armin Bender, Matthias Rose, Johannes Kruse, Eva M. J. Peters Tags: Paper Source Type: research