Frequency of psychological distress in gynecologic cancer patients seen in a large urban medical center.

This study focused on gynecologic cancers. Using the Distress Thermometer and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, this study examined distress levels in 94 women with gynecologic cancer who were being treated as outpatients at a large urban medical center. The distress levels in this sample were lower than in comparable studies, raising questions about openness to reporting distress. Those who reported higher levels of distress were more likely to also report a mental health diagnosis or psychiatric medication. This suggests that an alternate form for distress screening may involve inquiring about mental health treatment. In this sample, younger women and those with higher educational achievement or private health insurance had higher levels of distress. Conversely, there were no relations between distress levels and disease characteristics, indicating that, for example, women with early stage disease have just as much risk of distress as those with later-stage disease. PMID: 29706807 [PubMed]
Source: Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) Source Type: research