Predictors of psychological distress and interest in mental health services in individuals with cancer
Erin L O'Hea, Brigitte R Monahan, Alexandra Cutillo, Sharina D Person, Grant Grissom, Edwin D Boudreaux, Erin L O'Hea, Brigitte R Monahan, Alexandra Cutillo, Sharina D Person, Grant Grissom, Edwin D Boudreaux
Abstract
Identifying risk factors for psychological distress in patients with cancer may help providers more efficiently screen, identify, and manage distress. This article presents predictors of psychological distress in a large heterogeneous sample of cancer patients. In total, 836 patients were enrolled in a large randomized control trial and completed computerized psychosocial assessments Mental Health Assessment and Dynamic Referral for Oncology. Multivariate regressions examined predictors of distress and interest in mental health services. Final models suggest that psychological distress was related to six variables, and interest in mental health services was related to previous history of mental health counseling, total number of cancer-related symptoms, and race/ethnicity. Results may be used to identify high-risk patients who may benefit from proactive psychosocial interventions.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01442285.
Keywords: cancer; intervention; psychological distress; risk factors; social support.
Conflict of interest statement
This grant was funded through an STTR mechanism from the NIH/NIMH. Intellectual property as well as licensing and revenue income from the MHADRO program are shared between Polaris Health Directions and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Boudreaux also does consulting work for Polaris Health Directions.
© The Author(s) 2014.
Source: PubMed