Shepherd Louise, Goldstein David, Whitford Hayley, Thewes Belinda, Brummell Viki, Hicks Mary
Department of Medical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2006 Nov;32(5):453-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2006.05.018.
The unmet psychological needs of rural cancer patients are numerous. Telepsychology is a novel and feasible option that may provide cost-savings and help overcome inequalities in access to specialists. This is the first known study of psychological treatment for people with cancer delivered entirely via videoconferencing. We hypothesized that a telepsychology service would improve rural cancer patients' anxiety and depression levels and quality of life, and would be an acceptable, satisfactory, and practical mode of service delivery. Twenty-five cancer patients attended an average of three sessions with a clinical psychologist providing brief cognitive-behavioral therapy. Questionnaires were completed at pre-, post-, and 1-month follow-up. Patients benefited in terms of anxiety (P=0.01) and quality of life (P=0.04). The service was both practical and acceptable. These preliminary positive results provide a firm basis to conduct a randomized controlled trial of face-to-face interaction vs. videoconferencing.
农村癌症患者未得到满足的心理需求众多。远程心理学是一种新颖且可行的选择，它可能节省成本，并有助于克服在获得专科医生服务方面的不平等现象。这是已知的第一项完全通过视频会议为癌症患者提供心理治疗的研究。我们假设，远程心理学服务将改善农村癌症患者的焦虑和抑郁水平以及生活质量，并且将是一种可接受、令人满意且实用的服务提供方式。25名癌症患者平均参加了三次由临床心理学家提供的简短认知行为疗法治疗课程。在治疗前、治疗后和1个月随访时完成问卷调查。患者在焦虑（P=0.01）和生活质量（P=0.04）方面受益。该服务既实用又可接受。这些初步的积极结果为开展面对面互动与视频会议的随机对照试验提供了坚实基础。
