Primary Objective: To identify indicators distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer.
Background of the study: The occurrence of cancer constitutes a major stressor, leading to a wide range of emotions. Patients need support from relatives, friends and caregivers to deal with these emotions. Some patients need professional mental health care, in addition to support. Unfortunately, an accurate instrument to identify patients in need of professional mental health care is not available. This leads to important mismatches in the provision of care. In the field of oncology, the concept of 'distress' is used to refer to emotions associated with cancer. Measurement instruments (e.g. Distress Thermometer) are used to identify patients with clinically relevant distress. This approach results in major inconsistencies.While approximately one in three patients scores above the cut-off for distress, only about one in ten patients accepts mental healthcare, while it is unclear how many need mental health care. In the field of mental health, it is generally acknowledged that a distinction needs to be made between normal and adaptive emotions versus maladaptive and psychopathological emotions in response to a potentially traumatic event such as cancer. The concept of distress fails to make this distinction. Some patients scoring above the cut-off for distress may indeed experience maladaptive emotions. Other patients scoring above the cut-off may actually experience adaptive emotions, which facilitate coping with cancer. Therefore, in order to provide appropriate care, identification of indicators distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer is an urgent research priority. Objective of the study: To identify indicators that distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer, derived from recent innovative developments in the field of mental health. Study design: Patients are categorized as having 'adaptive emotions' or 'maladaptive emotions', using a reference standard: (a) a diagnostic mental health interview and questionnaires, or (b) patient's subjective need for professional mental health care. In all patients, emotional symptoms, cancer-treatment related symptoms and activities are assessed during a period of two weeks via mobile phone. Assessments of patients takes place twice; at 3 and 6 months after the start of chemo-or immunotherapy.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
134
VU University Medical Center
Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Rijnstate
Arnhem, Netherlands
Slingeland Ziekenhuis
Doetinchem, Netherlands
Emotional symptoms
Prompted by Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), patients rate the following 15 mood states on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 'not at all' to 7 'very' (in the present study, we use 'emotional symptoms' to refer to these mood states). Emotional symptoms with a negative valence: feeling agitated, upset, irritated, listless/apathetic, down, nervous, bored, anxious, and worried. Emotional symptoms with a positive valence: satisfied, relaxed, cheerful, energetic, enthusiastic and calm. These items have been derived from the The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) EMA diary-protocol, have sufficient with-in person variability and have been extensively used in previous studies.
Time frame: During two weeks, once as soon as possible after inclusion and once three months later
Cancer-treatment-related symptoms
Prompted by Ecological Momentary Assessment, patients rate the following six symptoms related to cancer-treatment on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 'not at all' to 7 'very': feeling tired, difficulty concentrating, nauseousness, loss of appetite, pain, and shortness of breath. These symptoms have been derived from the European Organisation For Research And Treatment Of Cancer (EORTC) item bank.
Time frame: During two weeks, once as soon as possible after inclusion and once three months after first assessment
Activities related to the pursuit of life goals
Prompted by Ecological Momentary Assessment, patients indicate whether they have been involved in the following five categories of activities: (a) work/study, (b) health-related activities (we will differentiate between activities focused on disease and treatment and activities focused on improving/maintaining physical fitness, and building or maintaining a healthy lifestyle), (c) social activities with relatives or friends, (d) intellectual and religious/spiritual activities, and (e) leisure/pleasure related activities.This question covers activities in the interval since the last assessment. The list of activities corresponds to the list of life goals (see below). Patients indicate in which activities they were involved. Combined with the patient's rating of the personal relevance of life goals (see below), this results in a rating of the involvement in specific activities related to the pursuit of personally relevant life goals.
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Radboud UMC
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Isala Klinieken Zwolle
Zwolle, Netherlands
Time frame: During two weeks, once as soon as possible after inclusion and once three months after first assessment
Specific signs and symptoms as identified by oncologists and nurses
In a qualitative study prior to this study, we have developed a checklist of potential signs and symptoms (e.g. a specific observation by an oncologist and nurse, such as crying or nervousness) which lead oncologists and nurses to suspect the need for professional mental health care among their patients. This checklist will be filled in by an oncologist and a nurse.
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Life goals
Patients are interviewed about their life goals. In the interview, they are presented with an empirically-derived list of potential life goals, in five categories: (a) achievement or work/study related goals, (b) health-related goals (we will differentiate between goals focused on disease and treatment and goals focused on improving/maintaining physical fitness, and building or maintaining a healthy lifestyle), (c) social goals, (d) psychological goals that focus on inner psychological states, and (e) leisure/pleasure related goals (cheerfulness/fun). Subsequently, patients assess to what extent they are striving to attain these goals, on a 5-point Likert scale raging from 1 'not at all' to 5 'very' (i.e. they rate the personal relevance of these life goals). The scores are used to weigh the five categories of activities (see above).
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Diagnostic mental health interview
The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (version 2.1) is a comprehensive, fully-structured interview for the assessment of lifetime and current (1 month recency) mental disorders, used to assess the presence of depression and anxiety disorder. In addition, we use the Four-dimensional symptom questionnaire (4DSQ) (Vier Dimensionele Klachten Lijst (4DKL) to assess adjustment disorder, with patients scoring \> 20 on Distress and without a depressive or anxiety disorder on the CIDI categorized as having an adjustment disorder. The interview is conducted in person by a well-trained researcher. Maladaptive emotions are rated as present if the patient scores positive on major depressive disorder, an anxiety disorder (panic disorder, agoraphobia without panic, specific phobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder) or adjustment disorder.
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
The need for professional mental health care
The Distress Thermometer is a single item self-report measure of distress. Patients are asked to rate their overall distress on a visual scale from 0 (no distress) to 10 (extreme distress). The Problem List identifies problems in five domains: the practical, social, cognitive-emotional, spiritual/religious and physical domain. Patients indicate whether in the last three months they experienced a problem in these domains, using a five-point scale (ranging from 1 'no problem at all' to 5 'very much a problem'). For every domain in which patients report at least one problem, we ask whether they (a) received a referral for the problem, (b) did not receive a referral, but would have preferred a referral for the problem, (c) did not want or receive a referral for the problem, but would be willing to consider a referral in the future, or (d) did not want or receive a referral, neither in the present nor the future.
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Threatening experiences
The List of Threatening Experiences is a brief life events questionnaire, assessing the occurrence of 12 events (never, past year, life time)
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is a 19 item self-report questionnaire assessing sleep quality and quantity. There are 7 component scores: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Mastery
Mastery is the feeling to which a person perceives himself or herself to be in control of events and ongoing situations. The 5-item abbreviated mastery scale will be used. A 5-point Likert scale is used to rate each item (e.g. 0 = strongly disagree, 4 = strongly agree).
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Emotional reactivity in daily life
Participants are asked whether they agree, disagree or are unsure about 3 statements concerning emotional reactivity in daily life (e.g. "Sometimes my feelings are strong, but they don't get in the way of day to day life), and how often (always, often, sometimes, rarely, never) 2 situations concerning emotional reactivity in daily life occur (e.g. How often do you find that your emotions are very unstable, or swing from one extreme to another in a way you sometimes find hard to control?).
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment
Social and instrumental support
The Close Person Inventory is a 14 item self-report questionnaire that will be used to measure social support received from the individual reported as being closest to the participant during the previous 12-month period. A 5-point Likert scale is used to measure how often they experience 3 components of social support: confiding/emotional, practical and negative social support (0 = never, 4 = very often).
Time frame: Once as soon as possible after inclusion in the study and once three months after first assessment