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Translating ‘distress’ and screening for emotional distress in multicultural cancer patients in Israel

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Abstract

Background

The adaptability of the distress thermometer (DT) to multicultural groups has rarely been assessed.

Aims

To assess DT adaptability to the Israeli population as a multicultural society.

Methods

Participants were 496 cancer patients. They were recruited for 3 days a week in 2009–2010 (97% response rate). Participants completed the DT, a problem list, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18).

Results

Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses of DT scores yielded area under the curve (AUC) of 0.63 as against HADS and of 0.78 as against BSI-18. ROC analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff score was ≥3. It yielded sensitivity and specificity of 0.74 and 0.65, as against the HADS, and 0.64 and 0.64, as against the BSI-18. The Jewish participants reported higher distress than the Arab participants, and the ROC properties were markedly higher for the Jewish subgroup alone.

Conclusions

The adapted DT was moderately efficient for detecting emotional distress in cancer patients in Israel. Cultural aspects related to distress should be taken into account for administration of the DT in multicultural societies.

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Abbreviations

AUC:

Area under curve

BSI:

Brief symptom inventory

DT:

Distress thermometer

HADS:

Hospital anxiety and depression scale

NCCN:

National comprehensive cancer network

ROC:

Receiver-operating characteristic

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Acknowledgment

The study was funded by the Maccabi Institute for Health Services Research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gerontology, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel

    Miri Cohen

  2. Social Work Department, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

    Roni Gagin

  3. Department of Social Services, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Tali Cinamon & Tamar Stein

  4. Geriatric Administration Northern District, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Haifa, Israel

    Tamar Stein

  5. Home-Care Unit, Northern District, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Haifa, Israel

    Marian Moscovitz

  6. Division of Oncology, Rambam Health Care Campus , 9602, Haifa, Israel

    Abraham Kuten

Authors
  1. Miri Cohen
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  2. Roni Gagin
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  3. Tali Cinamon
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  4. Tamar Stein
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Correspondence to Miri Cohen.

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Cohen, M., Gagin, R., Cinamon, T. et al. Translating ‘distress’ and screening for emotional distress in multicultural cancer patients in Israel. Qual Life Res 21, 555–562 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9972-x

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