Measuring psychosocial functioning in the radiation oncology clinic: a systematic review

Abstract

Psychosocial function declines in approximately one-third of RT patients. Anxiety can dissipate after initiation of RT, whereas depression can persist throughout and after RT. Severe physical symptoms and time-related factors most robustly predict psychosocial function decline, which can be improved by psychotherapy and interventions aimed to improve patient education.

A longitudinal study on anxiety, depressive and adjustment disorder, suicide ideation and symptoms of emotional distress in patients with cancer undergoing radiotherapy

“…Moreover, women and younger patients showed higher scores in clinical symptoms of anxiety, depression and emotional distress. These data support the Dunn et al's [33] results and Hess and Chen's review [5] with patients undergoing radiotherapy.…”

“…A significant decrease was observed in the levels of anxiety and emotional distress from the beginning of radiotherapy to the end of radiotherapy and the followup period, without significant differences being observed from the end of radiotherapy to the follow-up. The anxiety levels were similar to those reported in Hess and Chen's [5] or Stiegelis et al's [6] reviews. In Neilson et al's paper [10], an increase in the probable cases of clinical depression was found at the end of the treatment, followed by a decrease in the follow-up period, while the probable cases of anxiety decreased three weeks after the treatment, and then increased at the 18 months follow-up.…”

“…The symptoms increase from pre-radiotherapy to after radiotherapy, and decrease in the following months [5,6,16]. Depression symptoms increase over the course of radiotherapy and persist to the follow-up period [5,14,20,21].…”

“…Suicide ideation in cancer patients is greater than in the general population, and is thought to be around 12.3% [4]. Despite the numerous studies on psychopathology and emotional distress in cancer patients, only a small number of studies focused on the patients during treatment with radiotherapy [5][6][7]. In a study with cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, Fritzsche et al reported a prevalence of 3.4% of mood/depressive disorders, a 10.3% of anxiety disorders, and a 13.9% of adjustment disorders [8].…”

“…As a whole, half of the patients treated with radiotherapy in that study met criteria of psychopathological disorders. There are few longitudinal studies available on psychopathological disorders in patients undergoing radiotherapy, most of them using small samples focused on very specific cancers, which impedes generalization [5,6].…”