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Distress

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Handbook of Cancer Survivorship

Abstract

This chapter reviews the assessment and management of cancer-related distress, including depression and anxiety. Distress in cancer survivors is common, may contribute to the worsening of other cancer-related side effects, and can ultimately create considerable symptom burden. In recognition of the importance of distress management, distress screening is now an accreditation requirement for cancer centers in North America. Several brief tools and more time-intensive structured interviews are available to measure distress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Once identified, individuals should then be triaged and referred to psychosocial resources based on symptom severity. In this chapter, we provide an overview of screening and recommend resources based on severity of symptoms. We offer insights and recommendations for conducting future studies with more methodological rigor, examining different treatment delivery modalities, and examining cost-effectiveness.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Linda Carlson holds the Enbridge Research Chair in Psychosocial Oncology, co-funded by the Canadian Cancer Society Alberta/NWT Division and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. A Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Award supports Kirsti Toivonen. Dr. Peter Trask is an employee of and holds stock in Genentech. Thank you to Arthur M. Nezu and Christine M. Nezu whose chapter in the first edition of the Handbook of Cancer Survivorship served as the basis for Sect. 9.8.3 and contributed to Sects. 9.8.1 and 9.8.2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychosocial Oncology, University of Calgary, Holy Cross Site, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Linda E. Carlson

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Kirsti Toivonen

  3. Patient Centered Outcomes Research, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA

    Peter Trask

Authors
  1. Linda E. Carlson
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  2. Kirsti Toivonen
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  3. Peter Trask
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Correspondence to Linda E. Carlson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor (ret), Uniformed Services University Founder, Editor in Chief, Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Michael Feuerstein

  2. Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Perini Family Survivors’ Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Larissa Nekhlyudov

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Carlson, L.E., Toivonen, K., Trask, P. (2018). Distress. In: Feuerstein, M., Nekhlyudov, L. (eds) Handbook of Cancer Survivorship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77432-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77432-9_9

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