Department of Medical Oncology, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
Hematology-Oncology Department, King Khaled University hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
BMC Cancer. 2020 Oct 27;20(1):1033. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-07451-7.
The distress thermometer (DT) is an effective tool for identifying distress among cancer patients worldwide. However, DT has not been studied in Egyptian patients. We aimed to study the prevalence of distress among Egyptian patients with different types of cancers using DT.
A total of 550 patients with newly diagnosed hematological and solid cancers who were followed up at 3 Oncology Centers in Egypt were enrolled. They completed a sociodemographic and clinical status questionnaire, the DT and the Problem List (PL) scale.
At a DT cut-off score of ≥4, 46% of patients had significant distress, which was related to the tumor site and stage. The most frequent problems reported were treatment decision (64.4%), worry (47%), and fears (44.5%). In univariate logistic regression analysis, participants who had significant distress described 23 out of 36 problems in the practical, family, emotional, and physical areas. After adjustment to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, multivariable analysis confirmed that insurance, depression, fear, sadness, worry, loss of interest in usual activity, and sleep were independent factors associated with significant distress in cancer patients.
Almost half of Egyptian patients newly diagnosed with cancer reported significant distress. Those who had significant distress described extra problems in the practical, family, emotional, and physical areas. We recommend the routine use of DT for screening Egyptian patients with cancer, as well as the involvement of the psycho-oncology and social services, at the time of their initial diagnosis.
distress thermometer（DT）是一种有效的工具，可以识别全球癌症患者的痛苦。然而，DT 在埃及患者中尚未进行研究。我们旨在使用 DT 研究埃及不同类型癌症患者的痛苦发生率。
共招募了 550 名在埃及 3 个肿瘤中心接受随访的新发血液系统和实体癌患者。他们完成了一份社会人口统计学和临床状况问卷、DT 和问题清单（PL）量表。
在 DT 截断分数≥4 时，46%的患者有明显的痛苦，这与肿瘤部位和分期有关。报告的最常见问题是治疗决策（64.4%）、担忧（47%）和恐惧（44.5%）。在单因素逻辑回归分析中，有明显痛苦的参与者描述了实际、家庭、情感和身体领域的 36 个问题中的 23 个。在调整社会人口统计学和临床特征后，多变量分析证实保险、抑郁、恐惧、悲伤、担忧、对日常活动失去兴趣和睡眠是癌症患者明显痛苦的独立因素。
近一半新诊断为癌症的埃及患者报告有明显的痛苦。那些有明显痛苦的患者在实际、家庭、情感和身体方面描述了额外的问题。我们建议在埃及癌症患者的初始诊断时，常规使用 DT 进行筛查，并涉及心理肿瘤学和社会服务。
