Psychosocial Distress in Patients with Cancer and Survivors

Psychosocial Distress in Patients with Cancer and Survivors
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Psychosocial Distress in Patients with Cancer and Survivors
Psychosocial distress is a common problem for patients with cancer and the survivors. According to Estes and Karten (2014), about 35-43 percent experience psychosocial distress. The assessment of distress, however, is challenging because the symptoms of distress may not be distinguished from those of cancer. The NCCN has approved the distress screening tool that is the distress thermometer due to its efficiency when using it and effectiveness in identifying the distress. The tool has a scale of 0-10, where 0 indicates no stress and 10 shows extreme stress. The values 4 or more have been established as the cut-off points where they show moderate to severe distress implying that the patient has to be referred for appropriate intervention. However, the tool lacks specificity, ceiling effects and sensitivity t...