TY - JOUR
T1 - Using the distress thermometer and hospital anxiety and depression scale to screen for psychosocial morbidity in patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer
AU - Patel, Deepa
AU - Sharpe, Louise
AU - Thewes, Belinda
AU - Bell, Melanie L.
AU - Clarke, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the University of Sydney Cancer Research Fund, and Deepa Patel was supported by an Australian Rotary Health Research Fund - PhD Scholarship. Belinda Thewes was supported by a National Breast Cancer Foundation Post Doctoral Fellowship. None of these funding bodies had any further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - Background: The Distress Thermometer (DT) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) are commonly used within oncology settings. However there is a paucity of research comparing these measures to gold standard structured clinical interviews assessing for clinical disorders. The aim of this study is to establish the sensitivity, specificity and optimal cut-off scores on these measures when compared to a clinical interview. Method: Ninety-nine patients with colorectal cancer completed the DT and HADS and a psychologist-administered gold standard structured clinical interview (the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-CIDI). Receiver Operator Characteristic analyses (ROC) were conducted to establish the optimal cut-off score on the DT and HADS to identify clinical disorders based on the CIDI. Results: Seventeen patients met criteria for a clinical disorder in the sample. A cut-off score of 4 on the DT indicated acceptable sensitivity (60%) and specificity (67%) to detect a current clinical disorder, while the optimal cut-off for the HADS was 10 (sensitivity = 73%, specificity = 72%). The area under the ROC values were 0.66 for the DT (95% CI: 0.51, 0.82) and 0.78 for the HADS (95% CI: 0.67, 0.90). The difference in AUC between the two measures was not statistically significant. Limitations: The limitations to the design and methodology of the study are discussed. Conclusion: The single item DT performed fairly, however not as well as the longer HADS in identifying clinical disorders amongst oncology patients, particularly anxiety disorders.
AB - Background: The Distress Thermometer (DT) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) are commonly used within oncology settings. However there is a paucity of research comparing these measures to gold standard structured clinical interviews assessing for clinical disorders. The aim of this study is to establish the sensitivity, specificity and optimal cut-off scores on these measures when compared to a clinical interview. Method: Ninety-nine patients with colorectal cancer completed the DT and HADS and a psychologist-administered gold standard structured clinical interview (the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-CIDI). Receiver Operator Characteristic analyses (ROC) were conducted to establish the optimal cut-off score on the DT and HADS to identify clinical disorders based on the CIDI. Results: Seventeen patients met criteria for a clinical disorder in the sample. A cut-off score of 4 on the DT indicated acceptable sensitivity (60%) and specificity (67%) to detect a current clinical disorder, while the optimal cut-off for the HADS was 10 (sensitivity = 73%, specificity = 72%). The area under the ROC values were 0.66 for the DT (95% CI: 0.51, 0.82) and 0.78 for the HADS (95% CI: 0.67, 0.90). The difference in AUC between the two measures was not statistically significant. Limitations: The limitations to the design and methodology of the study are discussed. Conclusion: The single item DT performed fairly, however not as well as the longer HADS in identifying clinical disorders amongst oncology patients, particularly anxiety disorders.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Cancer
KW - Depression
KW - Distress thermometer
KW - Psychological disorder
KW - Screening
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.11.014
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.11.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 21130501
AN - SCOPUS:79955886786
VL - 131
SP - 412
EP - 416
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
SN - 0165-0327
IS - 1-3
ER -