Rhondali Wadih, Ledoux Mathilde, Sahraoui Fatma, Marotta Juliette, Sanchez Vincent, Filbet Marilène
Hospices civils de Lyon, centre hospitalier Lyon-Sud, unité de soins palliatifs, 165, chemin du Grand-Revoyet, 69495 Pierre-Bénite cedex, France, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, Houston, Texas, États-Unis, Université de Lyon, laboratoire santé, individu, société (EAM-SIS-HCL 4128), 69500 Bron, France.
Bull Cancer. 2013 Sep;100(9):819-27. doi: 10.1684/bdc.2013.1796.
The prevalence of cancer is not well established and probably underestimated in long-stay psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric patients do not have the same access for cancer screening and care. Therapeutic decision-making is a real ethical problem. In this context, access to medical care should be provided by the establishment of guidelines and/or recommendations for this specific population. The aim of our study was to assess how cancer was managed among long term psychiatric inpatients. For this pilot study, we used a mixed methodology: a quantitative part with a retrospective chart review of cancer patients in a psychiatric institution and a qualitative part based on semi-structured interviews with psychiatrists with discourse analysis. Delay in cancer diagnosis can be explained by communication and behavior disorders, inadequate screening, and additional tests often refused by patients. Compliance and ethical issues (i.e. obtaining informed consent) are many pitfalls to optimal cancer care that should be explored in further research.
