Cheung Yin Ting, Ong Ying Ying, Ng Terence, Tan Yee Pin, Fan Gilbert, Chan Choi Wan, Molassiotis Alex, Chan Alexandre
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2016 Jun;22(3):437-47. doi: 10.1177/1078155215587541. Epub 2015 Jun 4.
Psychosocial distress is often underdiagnosed and undertreated among breast cancer patients due to the poor recognition of the associated symptoms and inadequate knowledge of the treatments available.
To evaluate the mental health literacy of breast cancer patients by assessing (1) their ability to recognize the symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, depression, and cognitive disturbances, and (2) their knowledge of help-seeking options and professional treatments.
In this multi-center, cross-sectional study, early-stage breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy underwent four assessments to measure their levels of anxiety, depression, fatigue, and cognitive disturbances. With the aid of cancer-specific vignettes, a questionnaire was administered to evaluate their mental health literacy.
Fifty-four patients were recruited (77.7% Chinese, aged 52.7 ± 8.5 years). Clinically significant anxiety (15.1%), fatigue (27.8%), and cognitive disturbances (25.9%) were more prevalent than depression (5.6%). Although the majority of the patients could recognize the symptoms of fatigue accurately (75.9%), less than half could identify those of anxiety (35.2%), depression (48.1%), and cognitive disturbances (48.1%). Patients were more receptive to help from their family members (score: 3.39 out of 4.00) and oncologists (score: 3.13) than from other mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists (score: 2.26) and psychologists (score: 2.19) in the management of their psychosocial distress. Approximately half of the patients indicated that embarrassment and fear were their main barriers to seeking professional treatment (55.6%).
Our results suggest that the mental health literacy of breast cancer patients was inadequate. Intervention and management strategies could be implemented to teach these patients about evidence-based treatments and professional help that are specific to mental disorders.
由于对相关症状认识不足以及对可用治疗方法了解不够，心理社会困扰在乳腺癌患者中常常未得到充分诊断和治疗。
通过评估（1）乳腺癌患者识别焦虑、疲劳、抑郁和认知障碍症状的能力，以及（2）他们对寻求帮助的途径和专业治疗方法的了解，来评估乳腺癌患者的心理健康素养。
在这项多中心横断面研究中，接受化疗的早期乳腺癌患者接受了四项评估，以测量他们的焦虑、抑郁、疲劳和认知障碍水平。借助针对癌症患者的病例描述，发放问卷以评估他们的心理健康素养。
招募了54名患者（77.7%为华裔，年龄52.7±8.5岁）。临床上显著的焦虑（15.1%）、疲劳（27.8%）和认知障碍（25.9%）比抑郁（5.6%）更为普遍。尽管大多数患者能够准确识别疲劳症状（75.9%），但不到一半的患者能够识别焦虑（35.2%）、抑郁（48.1%）和认知障碍（48.1%）的症状。在应对心理社会困扰方面，患者更愿意接受家庭成员（得分：4.00分中的3.39分）和肿瘤学家（得分：3.13分）的帮助，而不是其他心理健康专家，如精神科医生（得分：2.26分）和心理学家（得分：2.19分）。大约一半的患者表示，尴尬和恐惧是他们寻求专业治疗的主要障碍（55.6%）。
我们的结果表明，乳腺癌患者的心理健康素养不足。可以实施干预和管理策略，向这些患者传授针对精神障碍的循证治疗方法和专业帮助。
