Psychological care in TYA with cancer - screening study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Examine the validity and acceptance of the Australian adapted Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Screening Tool as a screening instrument in detecting persistent psychological distress in teenage and young adults with cancer
IRAS ID
154277
Contact name
Dan Stark
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Research summary
An Australian group, led by Pandora Patterson and the charity Canteen, have adapted the distress thermometer (DT) for use in teenagers and young adults (TYA) with cancer. In collaboration with them the primary aim of this research is to validate and pilot the use of the Australian adapted DT as a screening instrument in detecting distress in TYA with cancer in the UK.
Cancer is the leading cause of disease related death in both male and female TYA’s, with around 3160 TYA aged 15-24 diagnosed with cancer each year (Office for National Statistics, 2011). Psychological distress in people diagnosed with cancer is to some extent common, yet it goes unrecognised (and untreated) by oncology professionals (Jacobsen, 2007, Fallowfield et al., 2001). Unrecognised (and untreated) distress can be life threatening; for example, poor adherence to treatment recommendations (Kondryn et al., 2011) and lower survival rates (Kennard et al., 2004) have been associated with heightened levels of distress.
Thus, there is an increasing focus on the need to identify and comprehensively assess psychological distress in TYA in a standardised and validated way. We believe from clinical experience within our network of UK TYA cancer services that the range of means used clinically to identify psychological distress in TYA are varied, and may not be ideal. We therefore welcome a nationally agreed and validated way to identify those TYA with distress severe enough to require further care for that aspect of quality of life. This requires a valid TYA specific assessment technique.
Newly diagnosed TYA’s with a first diagnosis of cancer will be asked to complete an online survey featuring three different screening measures at four time points, from early diagnosis to six months post diagnosis. Patients will be recruited from specialist teenage and young adult cancer services across the UK.REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
14/WS/1009
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jun 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion