TY - JOUR
T1 - Distress Scores during a Course of Radiotherapy
T2 - A Pilot Study
AU - Delikanli, Cansu
AU - Janssen, Stefan
AU - Keil, Dirk
AU - Tvilsted, Søren
AU - Schild, Steven E.
AU - Rades, Dirk
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 International Institute of Anticancer Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Background/Aim: Many cancer patients receive radiotherapy, which may cause distress. This pilot study evaluated distress levels before and after radiotherapy to contribute to the design of a prospective trial. Patients and Methods: Two-hundred patients completed distress thermometers before and after radiotherapy. Distress levels ranged from 0 (no distress) to 10 (maximum distress). Five characteristics were retrospectively analyzed regarding changes of distress including age, sex, performance score, tumor type, previous radiotherapy, and treatment intention. Additional analyses were performed for elderly (>65 years) and non-elderly (≤65 years) patients. Results: In all patients and both age groups, median pre-radiotherapy and post-radiotherapy distress levels were 5 (0-10) vs. 4 (0-10) points. Mean changes of distress levels were –0.5 (±2.6) points in all, –0.4 (±2.5) in elderly, and –0.7 (±2.8) in non-elderly patients. Changes were significantly associated with tumor type in all (p=0.049) and elderly (p=0.025) patients. Conclusion: Future studies investigating distress levels in patients receiving radiotherapy should consider age and tumor type.
AB - Background/Aim: Many cancer patients receive radiotherapy, which may cause distress. This pilot study evaluated distress levels before and after radiotherapy to contribute to the design of a prospective trial. Patients and Methods: Two-hundred patients completed distress thermometers before and after radiotherapy. Distress levels ranged from 0 (no distress) to 10 (maximum distress). Five characteristics were retrospectively analyzed regarding changes of distress including age, sex, performance score, tumor type, previous radiotherapy, and treatment intention. Additional analyses were performed for elderly (>65 years) and non-elderly (≤65 years) patients. Results: In all patients and both age groups, median pre-radiotherapy and post-radiotherapy distress levels were 5 (0-10) vs. 4 (0-10) points. Mean changes of distress levels were –0.5 (±2.6) points in all, –0.4 (±2.5) in elderly, and –0.7 (±2.8) in non-elderly patients. Changes were significantly associated with tumor type in all (p=0.049) and elderly (p=0.025) patients. Conclusion: Future studies investigating distress levels in patients receiving radiotherapy should consider age and tumor type.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140813550&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.21873/anticanres.16062
DO - 10.21873/anticanres.16062
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 36288853
AN - SCOPUS:85140813550
SN - 0250-7005
VL - 42
SP - 5561
EP - 5566
JO - Anticancer Research
JF - Anticancer Research
IS - 11
ER -
