Emotional Distress in Patients With Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Yu-Chi Li, Shu-Ching Ma, Hsiu-Hung Wang
PMID 40828657WHAT IT FOUND
Emotional distress was common among cancer inpatients.
A short questionnaire helped identify low dignity, demoralization, depression, and suicidal ideation, and may guide nurses on when to escalate care.
Key findings
01Among 400 cancer inpatients, 27.3% had emotional distress, 37.5% low dignity, 38.2% demoralization, 18.3% depression, and 28.0% suicidal ideation.
02Higher emotional distress scores were significantly associated with stage IV disease, recurrence diagnosis, chemotherapy, low dignity, demoralization, depression, and suicidal ideation.
03Brief symptom rating scale cutoffs of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 had study-sample discrimination for demoralization, low dignity and suicidal ideation, and depression, respectively.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample from a medical centre in southern Taiwan, so it may not represent other cancer settings. All participants were inpatients receiving cancer treatment, so the results do not cover outpatients or people who had finished treatment. The study used self-report questionnaires and did not confirm diagnoses or follow patients over time. Because this was a cross-sectional survey, it cannot show that emotional distress caused outcomes or that screening changed outcomes. The proposed score cutoffs were evaluated in the same sample and were not externally validated. The researchers did not ask why some participants did not complete the questionnaire.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the proposed cutoffs as a validated hospital protocol for all cancer patients. The study recruited inpatients at a medical centre in southern Taiwan using convenience sampling, and the thresholds were not tested against later clinical outcomes.