Psychological Counselling in Diagnostic Screening

Overview

Diagnostic tests have a deep emotional impact on oncology patients. Anxiety and worries can lead people to avoid screening tests, with high risks for health. A single arm, pilot study was organized to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of psychological counselling for cancer patients who demonstrated anxiety for diagnostic tests. The hypothesis was that taking part in Psychoeducative Training could offer a new modality to reduce anxiety, before and during tests, and also the possibility to reinforce coping strategies.

The Psychoeducative Training was organized in 6 weekly meetings lasting two hours. Each group was composed of 6 participants. The Training follows the cognitive-behavioural model. In the first part of every meeting, theoretical aspects about stress and anxiety were explained, while in the second part some relaxation techniques were taught. During relaxation, we used a selected music that was also going to be used during the diagnostic tests. Since the first meeting, patients experienced these relaxing techniques in order to learn them. In order to support the adaptability, at the end of every meeting the participants received some homework. They had to take notes on how many times they repeated the relaxation exercises and on the anxiety level before and after the training. For the study, 43 people were recruited. Anxiety was measured with Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI); it values the seriousness of the physiological behaviour connected with anxiety. This test an "anxiety gauge", which allows us to obtain numerical data on emotional changes. The test is composed of 4 interpretative levels: serious, moderate, small and minimal anxiety. The coping style was measured with Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced-New Italian Version (COPE-NIV); this test evaluates the way in which people resolve and face traumatic or usual stressful situations. The research project was approved by the Ethics Committee of Veneto Institute of Oncology. Every patient signed a written informed consent to process the data for research purposes and to publish it. Forty-three patients who had to undergo one or more diagnostic tests (PET, TAC, fMRI, Mammography, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy) took part in the study. The average age was 52.4 and 61.5% were married.

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