RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prevalence and determinants of distress among oncology patients at a tertiary care medical city in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 761
OP 768
DO 10.15537/smj.2021.42.7.20210121
VO 42
IS 7
A1 Luluh Y. Alsughayer
A1 Lamees A. Altamimi
A1 Futoon S. Alsaleh
A1 Lamya Alsaghan
A1 Ibrahim Alfurayh
A1 Nashwa M. Abdel-Aziz
A1 Khalid A. Alsaleh
A1 Fahad D. Alosaimi
YR 2021
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/42/7/761.abstract
AB Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of distress in patients with cancer in Saudi Arabia and to identify common psychosocial stressors in these patients. We also looked for associations between distress and psychological, sociodemographic, and medical factors.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in the oncology outpatient clinic at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 2018 to December 2019. It included 280 patients with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or lymphoma. Sociodemographic information was collected using questionnaire, along with information on medical history and any psychiatric history. Distress was assessed using the Distress Thermometer and Problem List. Satisfaction with social support was rated using the visual analog scale. All patients were screened for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression scale and anxiety using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale.Results: The prevalence of distress in our study population was found to be 46%. Distress was associated with several practical, family, emotional, and physical stressors in the problem list. Logistic regression identified predictors of distress to be anxiety (odds ratio [OR] 8.7, confidence interval [CI] 1.98-38.24, p=0.002) and receiving radiotherapy (OR 3.6, CI 1.33-9.99, p=0.009), while Saudi nationality (OR 0.22, CI 0.05-0.95, p=0.037) and stage I cancer (OR 0.18, CI 0.05-1.40, p=0.002) were associated with low distress.Conclusion: Approximately half of cancer patients were found to have distress. Anxiety, advanced cancer stage, and radiotherapy were independently associated with distress.