Journal of Psychosocial Oncology最新文献

Purpose: To investigate the relationship among sexual functioning, sexual script flexibility, and sexual satisfaction in individuals diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Design: Cross-sectional online survey.

Participants: Sixty-one men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer.

Methods: Online survey of sexual functioning, sexual script flexibility, and sexual satisfaction. Ordinal logistic regression investigated predictors of sexual satisfaction.

Findings: Greater sexual script flexibility was associated with a greater likelihood of being sexually satisfied.

Conclusions: Helping patients explore different ways of being sexual after treatment could help with sexual satisfaction maintenance.

Implications: Patients' sexual satisfaction may benefit from discussions of issues related to sexuality and ways to work around treatment-related sexual dysfunction with healthcare providers.

Purpose: To examine Chinese-immigrant cancer patients' openness to advance care planning (ACP) in an outpatient oncology setting.

Design: Retrospective review of social work assessment data.

Sample: 150 Chinese-immigrant patient charts were reviewed (55% Cantonese, 45% Mandarin).

Methods: Data were summarized descriptively and with logistic regression analyses.

Findings: Sixteen percent of patients had completed ACP prior to meeting with the oncology social worker (OSW). Twenty percent of patients agreed to complete a health care proxy (HCP) after receiving culturally-tailored education in their language of origin from the OSW, while 75% remained open to ongoing consideration of ACP and HCP completion.

Conclusions: This study illuminates how Chinese immigrants engage in ACP discussions in an oncology setting.

Implications for psychosocial provider: OSWs can play an integral role in advocating, educating, and intervening with this population and can assist the interdisciplinary team in understanding the importance of the cultural differences, even if the OSW's primary language differs from that of a patient's.

Purpose: To better understand the current salaries and student loan debt levels among oncology social workers (OSWs).

Design: Cross-sectional study using online survey.

Sample: OSWs across a variety of cancer care settings in the U.S. (n = 1055).

Methods: Salary and debt were collected via single ordinal variables. Crosstabs and chi-square tests were used to examine whether salary and debt differ by demographic and work-related characteristics.

Findings: Median OSW salaries ranged from $60,001 to $70,000. Three-fourths of OSWs reported having student loan debt. Younger and recently graduated OSWs and OSWs of color were more likely to have greater student loan debt than their counterparts.

Conclusions: Relative low salary and debt burden have important implications for securing a current and future OSW workforce.

Implications for psychosocial policy: Adequate reimbursement and loan repayment opportunities for frontline OSWs will better secure this workforce. Advocacy efforts to identify OSWs qualified for loan forgiveness programs are warranted.

Purpose/objectives: To examine the extent to which religious/spiritual coping moderates the association between stress appraisals and hope among patients with colorectal cancer.

Design/research approach: A longitudinal, prospective examination of hope, stress appraisals of cancer, and religious/spiritual coping through self-report questionnaires at baseline, 6-months, and 12-months post-surgery.

Sample/participants: One hundred thirty-nine newly diagnosed patients with colorectal cancer recruited from tertiary medical centers.

Findings: Challenge and threat appraisals predicted hope. Only the relationship between hope and challenge appraisals was significantly moderated by coping through religion/spirituality, such that those who were both low on challenge and low in religious/spiritual coping reported the lowest hope.

Conclusions/interpretation: Hope is predicted by how people appraise their cancer. Hope was lowest among participants who reported both low challenge appraisals and religious/spiritual coping.

Implications for psychosocial providers: Understanding how patients appraise their cancer and use religion/spirituality to cope may help providers understand which patients are at risk for low hope.

Background: Similar to the side effects of cancer treatment, financial toxicity (FT) can affect the quality of life of patients, which has attracted increasing attention in the field of oncology. Despite the fact that the estimated prevalence and risk factors of FT are widely reported, these results have not been synthesized.

Objectives: This review is aimed to systematically assess the prevalence and risk factors of self-reported FT.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analyses.

Data sources: A computer search of English literature was conducted using databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL, and reference lists of the qualified articles were also included between January 2010 and September 2021. Observational studies that reported the prevalence or risk factors of FT using subjective measures were included.

Methods: The systematic review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The risk of bias was assessed by the NIH observational cohort and cross-sectional study quality assessment tool. The data were extracted by two reviewers and listed in a descriptive table for meta-analyses.

Results: In the 22 studies available for meta-analyses of pooled prevalence of FT, the result was estimated to be 45% (95% CI: 38% to 53%, I² = 97.3%, P < 0.001) based on a random-effects model. The pooled analysis identified 9 potential risk factors of FT (7 in β and 8 in OR): low income (OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.72 to 3.24, I² = 3.1%, P < 0.001), greater annual OOP (β = -4.26, 95% CI: -6.95 to -1.57, I² = 0%, P = 0.002), younger age (OR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.56 to 2.54, I² = 0%, P < 0.001), no private insurance (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.37, I² = 0%, P < 0.001), unmarried (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.95 to 1.25, I² = 53,3%, P < 0.001), nonwhite (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.33 to 1.85, I² = 0%, P < 0.001), advanced cancer (β = -4.74, 95% CI: -6.90 to -2.57, I² = 0%, P < 0.001), unemployed (β = -2.90, 95% CI: -5.71 to -0.63, I² = 75,7%, P < 0.001), more recent diagnosis (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.57, I² = 0%, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: This systematic review reported a pooled prevalence of self-reported FT of 45%. Low income, greater annual OOP (Out of pocket), younger age, unmarried, unemployed, nonwhite, no private insurance, advanced cancer, and more recent diagnosis constituted risk factors for self-reported FT. The research on risk factors for FT can provide a theoretical basis for medical staff to evaluate and intervene in the FT among cancer survivors.

Objectives: Technology-assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (tCBT) has significant potentials to provide engaging and accessible depression treatment for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) coping with cancer. This study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an engaging and tailorable tCBT - Mind Your Total Health (MYTH) - for AYA cancer survivors' depression.

Methods: Seventeen AYAs diagnosed with cancer were randomly assigned to either the intervention (MYTH) or control group. The intervention group (n = 10) received eight weekly 30-35 minutes coach-assisted tCBT (MYTH), while the control group (n = 7) received active control, BeatingtheBlues (BtB).

Results: Eight out of ten participants in the MYTH group completed at least six out of eight sessions, suggesting strong feasibility (80% completion rate) among AYAs with cancer. Efficacy outcomes indicated that participants in the MYTH group reported significant pre- and post-treatment reduction in depression, t(9) = 5.25, p < 0.001, and anxiety, t(9)=5.07, p < 0.001. Notably, participants in the MYTH group reported significantly lower post-treatment depression than participants in the BtB group, t(15) = 2.40, p < 0.05. The between-group difference reflected a significant between-group treatment effect size, d = 1.12, p < 0.05.

Discussion: This engaging, tailorable, and coach-assisted tCBT intervention is promising in alleviating depression and anxiety among AYA cancer survivors. Future research needs to include larger sample size and a more diverse patient population.

To assess COVID-19-pandemic related anxiety and emotional-behavioral difficulties among oncologic children and their caregivers.

Prospective cohort study conducted from March to November 2020.

76 pediatric oncological and 28 nonmalignant hematological patients aged 1.6-23.4 years and their caregivers.

A total of 104 families completed an age-specific self-report psychological assessment; of these, 20 oncologic families completed the assessment at two time points.

Ten percent of the caregivers and 13.9% of the patients reported anxiety disorder. Additionally, 3.1% of the caregivers reported behavioral difficulties. No significant differences emerged between patients' self-reports and caregivers' reports. No differences emerged between oncological and nonmalignant hematological participants.

The prevalence of anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic was similar to the reported prevalence of anxiety following a diagnosis of pediatric malignancy.

Real-time assessment of psychological effects revealed no COVID-19-associated anxiety. Nonetheless, late effects will need to be monitored.

Purpose: Despite widespread reports of cancer-related financial hardship, hospital financial assistance programs are underutilized.

Approach: Rapid qualitative research.

Sample: Gynecologic oncology patients with recurrent or metastatic disease, under 65 years old, and Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity of 26 or under.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews to elicit (1) financial assistance awareness/knowledge, (2) barriers to accessing assistance, and (3) suggestions for improving access. We analyzed the transcripts using thematic analysis: open coding, consensus building/codebook, and identification of salient themes.

Findings: We interviewed 25 patients and identified four barriers and three suggestions for improving access. Barriers: lack of awareness, perceptions of ineligibility, fear of negative consequences, and being overwhelmed. Suggestions: simplifying financial processes, providing individualized assistance, and being more proactive by intervening earlier.

Conclusion: Increase access by reducing stigma, misconceptions, and more proactively engaging at-risk patients.

Implications for psychosocial providers: Patients may be too afraid or overwhelmed to ask for help. A more proactive, psychosocial approach is needed.

Purpose: To describe caregiver psychological processing during the 12 weeks after transplant and the potential role of positive emotions in caregiving experiences.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal qualitative descriptive study and interviewed 11 BMT caregivers monthly for 12-weeks post-transplant about their experiences and psychological processing. We analyzed 38 interviews using directed content analysis based on guiding theories and inductive in vivo coding to develop themes.

Results: The majority of participants appraised caregiving as a challenge that needed to be met. Caregivers described feeling positive emotions throughout the time after transplant (gratitude, interest, and hope). We identified two new themes: mirroring (caregiver feelings reflecting patient status) and emotion regulation (hiding negative emotions and displaying positive emotions when with the patient).

Implications: Findings provide further evidence that interventions focused on emotion regulation and positive emotion experiences during caregiving to reduce the negative effects of caregiving related stress may be promising.