University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Support Care Cancer. 2021 Nov;29(11):6801-6806. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06283-w. Epub 2021 May 15.
Psychological distress is common in patients with cancer, and oncology providers are often tasked with utilizing psychotropic medications to treat such symptoms.
This study aims to characterize how oncology providers prescribe psychotropic medications and to assess their comfort level with prescribing these medications.
A cross-sectional survey was sent to oncology medical doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who prescribe psychotropic medications to patients with cancer at a large academic medical center in the Mountain West. The survey included questions regarding provider subspecialty, degree, comfort with prescribing psychotropic medications, and factors that informed their prescribing.
Oncology providers (n = 65) reported equal proportions of comfort and discomfort with prescribing psychotropic medications. The medication class with the most prescribers was benzodiazepines, with 89.2% (n = 58) of the respondents prescribing those medications. The least prescribed category was mood stabilizers, with 4.6% (n = 3) prescribing this category. Prescribers identified that barriers to their comfort included difficulty connecting patients to follow-up care with mental health professionals and inadequate mental health education for providers. Providers responded that continuing mental health education and increasing patient access to mental health resources would increase their prescribing comfort.
Providers reported equal parts comfort and discomfort with prescribing psychotropic medications; avenues to increase comfort should involve focused mental health education during formal training and continued education throughout their oncology careers. A clinical pathway for prescribing psychotropic medications with resources to connect patients to long-term mental health care may also increase prescribing comfort.
癌症患者中常见心理困扰，而肿瘤学医生通常需要开具精神类药物来治疗这些症状。
本研究旨在描述肿瘤学医生开具精神类药物的情况，并评估他们开具此类药物的舒适度。
我们向在西部山区的一所大型学术医疗中心为癌症患者开具精神类药物的肿瘤学医生、护士从业者和医师助理发送了一份横断面调查。该调查包括关于医生亚专科、学位、开具精神类药物的舒适度以及影响其开具药物的因素等问题。
肿瘤学医生（n=65）报告称他们在开具精神类药物方面感到同样的舒适和不适。最常开具的药物类别是苯二氮䓬类，89.2%（n=58）的受访者开具此类药物。最少开具的类别是心境稳定剂，只有 4.6%（n=3）的医生开具此类药物。开处方的障碍包括难以将患者与心理健康专业人员的后续护理联系起来，以及医生自身接受的心理健康教育不足。医生们表示，增加对精神健康的持续教育和增加患者获得精神卫生资源的机会将增加他们的处方舒适度。
医生报告称在开具精神类药物方面感到同样的舒适和不适；增加舒适度的途径应包括在正式培训期间进行有针对性的心理健康教育，并在整个肿瘤学职业生涯中持续教育。制定开具精神类药物的临床途径，并提供资源将患者与长期心理健康护理联系起来，也可能会增加开处方的舒适度。
