Carter Eva, Collier Sonya, Plunkett Roisin, Beirne Eugene, Kelly Brendan D
Department of Psychological Medicine, St James's Hospital, James's Street, Dublin, Ireland.
Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, D24 NR0A, Ireland.
Ir J Med Sci. 2025 Feb;194(1):45-53. doi: 10.1007/s11845-024-03852-w. Epub 2025 Jan 4.
Cancer has adverse consequences for mental health, especially in women. Lack of awareness of services and stigma diminish access to psycho-oncology services.
To assess psychological distress and willingness to engage in multidisciplinary psycho-oncological services among cancer patients.
Cross-sectional survey of attitudes towards psycho-oncology services in 142 cancer patients.
Women experienced more extreme distress than men, with 46.4% of females and 17.8% of males reporting "extreme" distress. Under one third of cancer patients (30.3%) knew the meaning of 'psycho-oncology'; one quarter (25.6%) knew of the psycho-oncology service, and two thirds (67.2%) were unsure if referral would be beneficial. One fifth (21.0%) would be somewhat/extremely uncomfortable disclosing attending palliative care, compared to 17.9% for psychiatry, 14.4% for psychology, and 5.8% for cardiology. On multivariable analysis, pre-existing psychiatric/psychological difficulty was the only variable independently associated with belief that a psycho-oncology referral would be beneficial.
Limited awareness of psycho-oncology services exist despite high rates of extreme distress among women with cancer.. Given that women have higher levels of extreme distress, it would be prudent to offer them enhanced psycho-oncological care.
癌症对心理健康有不良影响，尤其是对女性。对服务缺乏认知以及耻辱感减少了获得心理肿瘤学服务的机会。
评估癌症患者的心理困扰以及参与多学科心理肿瘤学服务的意愿。
对142名癌症患者对心理肿瘤学服务的态度进行横断面调查。
女性比男性经历了更极端的困扰，46.4%的女性和17.8%的男性报告有“极端”困扰。不到三分之一的癌症患者（30.3%）知道“心理肿瘤学”的含义；四分之一（25.6%）知道心理肿瘤学服务，三分之二（67.2%）不确定转诊是否有益。五分之一（21.0%）的人在透露接受姑息治疗时会有些/非常不舒服，相比之下，透露接受精神病学治疗的比例为17.9%，心理学治疗的比例为14.4%，心脏病学治疗的比例为5.8%。在多变量分析中，既往存在的精神/心理困难是唯一与认为心理肿瘤学转诊有益这一信念独立相关的变量。
尽管患有癌症的女性极端困扰发生率很高，但对心理肿瘤学服务的认知有限。鉴于女性有更高程度的极端困扰，为她们提供强化的心理肿瘤学护理是谨慎之举。
