Despite the possible traumatic significance of cancer and of the incidence, prevalence, and survival of young women with breast cancer, these patients are underrepresented in multidimensional ...research. In the present survey, QoL and psychological distress were studied in a sample of young female breast cancer patients during the first year of their disease. More in detail, the study was firstly aimed to assess if QoL of 18-45 years old female breast cancer patients was different from QoL of women from the general population and if it changed over time. Secondly, it described the psychological distress and its change over time. Finally, it assessed if QoL registered 1 year post-surgery may be explained by QoL and/or psychological distress registered during the hospitalization.
One hundred six, consecutive 18-45 years old, female primary breast cancer patients undergoing anticancer surgery filled out the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and a socio-demographic and clinical form during hospitalization to receive surgery (T0), and again at 12 months post-surgery (T1).
At T0, participants showed a better physical functioning (p = 0.001) than the female normative sample, whereas their mental functioning was worse (p < 0.001). In this time, mental functioning within our sample was weaker than physical functioning (p < 0.001). Over time, physical functioning decreased (p < 0.001), whereas mental functioning increased (p < 0.001). Both at T0 and T1, anxiety was higher than depression (p < 0.05). Both distress dimensions decreased over time (p < 0.001). Nevertheless, at T0 the 25.5 and 26.4% of the sample were respectively possible and probable cases of anxiety, whereas the 17.9 and 9.4% were possible and probable cases of depression. At T1, the percentages were 17.9 and 18.9% for anxiety, and 8.5 and 6.6% for depression. In both considered times, a better QoL corresponded to less psychological distress. However, QoL and psychological distress assessed at T0 did not predict the QoL at T1.
This study documented as QoL and psychological distress may change during the first year after surgery for a primary breast cancer in young women; therefore, they should be monitored over time to detect and treat women with alarming levels on them.
Cancer is becoming a chronic disease, and the number of cancer survivors continues to increase. Lymphoma survivors are also increasing in numbers, and anxiety and depression are among the ...consequences they face. This study aimed to explore psychological distress in a sample of 212 lymphoma survivors. Information through a socio-demographic form and the compilation of questionnaires to assess anxiety, depression, quality of life, and the impact of cancer on lymphoma survivors was collected and analyzed. In the sample examined, 17% of lymphoma survivors were anxiety caseness, and 12.3% were depression caseness, and of these, 8% presented with concomitant anxiety depression. This study identified some variables associated with psychological distress in lymphoma survivors: female sex; living as a couple; a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma; systematic treatment and/or radiotherapy; sleep disorders; no regular physical activity; and present or past use of psychiatric drugs. Our cross-sectional study results suggest that some of the variables investigated may be useful in identifying lymphoma survivors who are more likely to report psychological distress. It is important to monitor psychological distress along the entire trajectory of survivorship in order to identify early the presence of anxiety and depression and to provide timely psychological support.
The Body Image Scale (BIS) is a 10-item mono-factorial scale, designed to capture distress and symptoms related to body image in cancer patients. This paper describes the conversion and psychometric ...evaluation of an Italian BIS version.
After the back-translation procedure, the Italian version of the BIS, together with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire, have been administered to a sample of Italian adult females, surgically treated for a breast cancer at least one year before.
Data on 109 participants were analyzed. The response rate was 92.5%. Response prevalence was adequate for 9 out of 10 items. Principal component analysis showed a one-factor structure. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha =0.924) was good. The BIS correlated with the theoretically pertinent subscales of the other administered tools and was able to discriminate participants (discriminant validity) according to the undertaken surgical treatment (p = 0.031).
This study supports the valid and reliable use also of the Italian version of the BIS.
Psychological distress includes all negative subjective experiences elicited by a disease and its treatments. Since psychological distress in oncology is associated with negative outcomes, its ...detection and description are helpful for designing tailored supportive interventions. This study used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess the intensity and prevalence of psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depression) in cancer inpatients and examined the relationships between these variables and sociodemographic and clinical factors. An existing dataset of HADS results, from 2021 consecutive adult cancer inpatients at a single hospital, was analyzed. Only those questionnaires with complete responses were used. The intensity of anxiety and depression was determined from HADS sub-scores. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was calculated using, as case-finding criteria, cut-offs of ≥ 10 and ≥ 8, respectively. The mean HADS scores describing intensity were 7.3 for anxiety (
= 1,990) and 5.8 (
= 1,970) for depression. The prevalence rates for anxiety and depression were 26.6 and 28.6%, respectively. Among the 1,916 patients who completed both subscales, 17.2% had both anxiety and depression, 21.0% had either anxiety or depression, and 61.7% had neither. Gender, age, occupational status, and cancer diagnosis were associated with anxiety intensity or prevalence, while age, occupational status, and cancer diagnosis were associated with depression intensity or prevalence. Anxiety intensity was affected by the interaction effect between gender and diagnosis. Our study showed anxiety and depression being distinct entities, with more intense anxiety overall. From a research perspective, it reaffirms the usefulness for assessing both intensity and prevalence concurrently to gain a more detailed description of anxiety and depression.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are associated with a higher risk of breast and ovarian tumors. This study evaluated the emotional states of women 1 month after having received the results of the genetic ...test and assessed eventual associations with the type of outcome, personal/familiar disease history and major socio-demographic variables.
The study, an observational retrospective one, involved 91 women, evaluated 1 month after receiving their results. Patients were administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Profile of Mood States and emotional Thermometers.
Anxiety was significantly higher than depression (
< 0.001), and 21.3% and 21.3% of the sample were, respectively, possible and probable cases for anxiety, whereas 13.5% and 10.1% were possible and probable cases for depression. Within the six mood states, Confusion-Bewilderment (M = 48.5) was the lowest, whereas Fatigue-Inertia (M = 52.3) was the highest. Differences were recorded within the ten assessed emotions too. Being a proband/nonproband and being or not a cancer patient were associated with many tested variables.
The psycho-emotional screening of women undertaking genetic counseling is relevant and should cover a large range of dimensions.
Background and purpose
The diagnosis of cancer marks an immediate passage from a condition of health to one characterized by uncertainty, threat of death, and changes. The psychological distress is ...recognized as a peculiar component in the process of disease adjustment and it seems to change over time together with needs. In the present study, both psychological distress and needs were assessed twice (i.e., after the diagnosis and later during treatments) in a sample of hospitalized cancer patients.
Method
Eighty-five consecutive adult patients from the same Cancer Institute in North-east Italy were involved in the research. Participants were requested to fill out both a distress (i.e., the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and needs (i.e., Needs Evaluation Questionnaire) self-reported measure within a month of diagnosis (diagnostic phase) and 3–6 months from diagnosis (therapeutic phase).
Results
In the diagnostic phase, the prevalence of probable psychological morbidity due to anxiety was 23.5% and 14.1% due to depression. When the inpatients identified as possible cases were included, the respective proportions were 56.5% and 36.5%. Progressing from diagnostic to therapeutic phase, anxiety seems to decrease, while no statistically significant difference has been found in depression levels. In both phases, the most frequently mentioned needs were the informative ones; although the decrement in time is significant only for this type of needs.
Conclusion
The implications both for the quality of care and the disease adjustment by cancer patients are discussed together with study limitations.
Objectives
Taking care of oncological patients holistically—from a biological, social, and psychological point of view—also involves evaluating the social aspects of the disease. In the present ...study, we provide further insights on how investigations regarding the social impact of an oncological disease are conducted with specifically designed tools on patients who have personally been affected. The objective is then to understand how the social dimension is theorized and, therefore, which practical aspects of subjective experience are employed to assess the social impact.
Method
We performed a systematic review of the literature identified by MedLine and PsycINFO databases.
Results
Of the 469 articles obtained from the search, 27 deal with 14 different measurement instruments of the social impact of the oncological experience. Of the identified tools, 71 % were specifically designed for the oncological setting and were heterogeneous both in the investigated domains as well as social referrals; 64 % of these had a multidimensional structure. Internal consistency was reported for all instruments, while temporal stability only for 36 % of the tools. Construct validity and concurrent validity were reported for 79 % of the instruments, criterion and predictive validity for one instrument only, external validity for 18 % of the tools, and cross-cultural validity for one instrument only. The content was directly available for most instruments.
Conclusions
The great interest in this subject as borne out by the amount of studies published in international psycho-oncological literature confirms the importance of having a valid and reliable instrument specifically dedicated to measuring the social impact of the oncological experience. At the same time, further investigation is required to investigate the psychometric properties of the existing tools.
Gender and Mathematics Muzzatti, Barbara; Agnoli, Franca
Developmental psychology,
05/2007, Letnik:
43, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Two experiments investigated the development of attitudes toward mathematics and stereotype threat susceptibility in Italian children. Experiment 1 involved 476 elementary school boys and girls and ...produced evidence of gender differences in self-confidence in one's own mathematical ability and in gender stereotyping of mathematics during elementary school. It also provided initial evidence for a decrement in 10-year-old girls' mathematics performance when stereotype threat was made salient by reminding participants that extraordinary achievement in mathematics is typically a male phenomenon. Experiment 2 (
N
= 271) replicated these findings and expanded them to middle school-age participants. Its results suggest that during middle school, the patterns observed in elementary school consolidate, and the stereotypes begin to produce detrimental effects in girls.
Purpose
Body image is a psychological dimension of the experience of cancer, which varies along the clinical features of the disease itself and in its phases, as well as its effects in terms of ...functioning and quality of life. In 2012, Supportive Care in Cancer published a review addressing the relevance, application, and instruments of body image assessment for oncological settings. Since then, many research papers have been published on this topic and new questionnaires for assessing body image in oncology are now available. This contribution aims to offer both researchers and clinicians an updated review of body image assessment tools.
Methods
We searched PubMed, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and Scopus databases, which allowed us to identify pertinent papers, classified according to the body image tool to which they refer. We then extracted the characteristics and the psychometric properties from each study.
Results
From the 657 initial records, 23 papers met the selection criteria referring to 8 body image measurements. Although increasing in number and being the subject of a growing number of studies, these papers are still not exhaustive with respect to the verified psychometric properties. In particular, it is worth noting that their applicability to all types of cancer is limited and that a focus on women with breast cancer prevails.
Conclusion
A complete validation (including a study of all types of validity and reliability) and an indication of the case results are not currently available for any of the eight instruments described. However, studies designed to apply body image assessment tools to patients other than those experiencing breast cancer as well to cultural contexts other than English-speaking countries, are increasing.
Purpose
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a self-report questionnaire designed to screen anxious and depressive states in patients in non-psychiatric settings. In spite of its large ...use, no agreement exists in literature on HADS accuracy in case finding. The present research addresses the issue of HADS accuracy in cancer patients, comparing its two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D) against tools not in use in psychiatry, which are able to detect prolonged negative emotional states.
Methods
2121 consecutive adult cancer inpatients were administered the HADS together with the State Anxiety subscale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Scale on Depression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were computed to identify a cut-off for anxious and depressive states in cancer patients. All indicators were computed together with their corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI).
Results
Data of 1628 and 1035 participants were used to assess the accuracy in case finding of HADS-A and HADS-D, respectively. According to the ROC analysis, the optimal cut-off was > 9 units for the HADS-A and > 7 units for the HADS-D. The area under the ROC curve was 0.90 for HADS-A (95% CI 0.88–0.91) and 0.84 for HADS-D (95% CI 0.81–0.86).
Conclusions
This study suggested that risk scores of anxious and depressive states above specific HADS cut-offs are useful in identifying anxious and depressive states in cancer patients, and they may thus be applicable in clinical practice.
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