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The measure of psychological distress in cancer patients: the use of Distress Thermometer in the Oncological Rehabilitation Center of Florence

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Abstract

Goals of work

Distress in cancer patients is common. In the last years, several studies have used the single-item Distress Thermometer (DT) as a screening tool for psychological distress in cancer patients. The primary objective of this study was to determine the optimal cutoff score on the DT for detecting psychological distress in cancer patients attending a rehabilitation center, by comparing the DT’s scores with those of the Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI). The second aim was to explore the effectiveness of the DT as a screening tool for psychological distress in rehabilitative oncological setting.

Patients and methods

The sample study totaled 290 patients who were recruited from patients attending the Oncological Rehabilitation Center of Florence for the first time between January and December 2007. Patients were administered the DT along with the Problem List (PL) and the PDI as the gold standard against which the DT was compared.

Main results

The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.84 [95%CI 0.80–0.89]. The optimal DT cutoff score for identifying distressed cancer patients would be at or above 7 (sensitivity = 0.73; specificity = 0.82). Patients whose DT score was 7 or above were more likely to report problems in all issues on the PL.

Conclusions

The combination of DT and PL could be a practicable screening instrument for assessing the extent and the kind of distress also in rehabilitative oncological patients. On the other hand, the choice of the DT should be evaluated by clinicians.

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Acknowledgement

Authors thank the volunteers of the “Donna Come Prima” Association (Italian League Against Cancer) for their precious help in collecting the questionnaires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical and Descriptive Epidemiology Unit ISPO, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, Epidemiologia Clinica e Descrittiva, ISPO, Istituto Scientifico della Regione Toscana, Via S. Salvi 12, 50135, Florence, Italy

    Francesco Bulli, Guido Miccinesi & Eugenio Paci

  2. Oncological Rehabilitation Center, Florence, Italy

    Alice Maruelli & Manuel Katz

Authors
  1. Francesco Bulli
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  2. Guido Miccinesi
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  3. Alice Maruelli
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  4. Manuel Katz
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  5. Eugenio Paci
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Correspondence to Francesco Bulli.

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Bulli, F., Miccinesi, G., Maruelli, A. et al. The measure of psychological distress in cancer patients: the use of Distress Thermometer in the Oncological Rehabilitation Center of Florence. Support Care Cancer 17, 771–779 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-008-0543-9

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