Routine screening and management of distress in people with cancer in WA: a pilot study of people with haematological malignancies treated in an outpatient setting. — ASN Events
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Routine screening and management of distress in people with cancer in WA: a pilot study of people with haematological malignancies treated in an outpatient setting. (#548)

Toni Musiello 1 , Claire Johnson 2 , Lisa Millar` 3 , David Joske 4 , Moira O'Connor 5 , Anna Petterson 6 , Deb Cook 1
  1. University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
  2. University of Western Australia (UWA), CAPCREU, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  3. Department of Psychiatry, Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital (SCGH), Perth, WA, Australia
  4. Haematology Care Centre, Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
  5. Curtin University, WA Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care, Perth, WA, Australia
  6. Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital, Solaris Care Foundation, Perth, WA, Australia

Aims:

1.     To establish the prevalence of distress in patients with a haematological malignancy while receiving chemotherapy in a major outpatient clinic.

2.     To examine the feasibility of implementing the distress thermometer and problem list in clinical practice in WA.

3.     To identify the services required for managing distress in haematology oncology patients.

Method:

 Patients were recruited from a Haematology outpatient clinic. Each participant completed the Distress Thermometer (DT) and problem list (PL).  These were then discussed with a nurse who arranged appropriate referrals. At follow up, participants completed a semi structured phone interview reporting their outcomes from the use of the DT and PL.

Outcomes:

Data collection is still in process and will be reported at the full IPOS meeting, including the prevalence of distress in this population.  To date, 40 individuals have been recruited; 49% are males.  Ages ranged between 18 and 84 years (m=52, sd15.5).  The majority of participants (90%) accepted referrals: 22 (55%) for nursing related information, 8 (20%) for financial assistance and 3 (7.5%) for further psychological support.   The mean time for the initial DT completion and PL interview between the patient and nurse was 47 minutes (sd 16.23).

In the follow up telephone interviews, participants stated that the DT and PL were easy to complete and the environment in which the initial assessment was carried out was suitable.  Participants agreed that they would benefit from a distress assessment at regular intervals throughout their treatment.

Conclusions:

The DT and PL are useful for identifying distress in people receiving chemotherapy for haematological malignancies in an outpatient setting.  The majority of the distress can be dealt with by a nurse.  However, the time required for the initial interview and follow up would produce an unrealistic time burden on the nurses working in a busy chemotherapy outpatient clinic.