Correlates of Psychological Distress in Patients With Cancer at a Psycho-oncology Clinic

Background: Patients with cancer experience significant psychological distress. Most studies investigated individual risk factors for distress in their respective treatment setting, which limit generalizability of results or comparison of relative importance. Objective: To investigate the relation between psychological distress in patients referred to a psycho-oncology clinic and its correlates in a comprehensive manner. Method: Medical charts of patients who visited the psycho-oncology clinic at a tertiary hospital from May 2019 to May 2020 were reviewed. Demographic, cancer-related, and psychiatric factors; health-related quality of life; and somatic pain were investigated. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, item 9 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General, Present Pain Intensity, and Distress Thermometer were measured at the index visit. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed with the Distress Thermometer score as a dependent variable. Results: A total of 454 patients were included. The univariate analyses showed age and physical, emotional, and functional well-being scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General were negatively associated with the Distress Thermometer scores, while female genital cancer, advanced disease, recent radiotherapy, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score, and the Present Pain Intensity score showed a positive relation. After adjusting for all other variables, female genital cancer (P = 0.027), anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (P < 0.001), the Present Pain Intensity (P = 0.002), and physical (P < 0.001) and functional (P = 0.019) well-being subscales of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General remained significant. Conclusions: Patients with cancer who visited a psycho-oncology clinic experienced more distress if they had female genital cancer, low health-related quality of life score, severe anxiety, or somatic pain.