JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Sensitivity and specificity of the Distress Thermometer and a two-item depression screen (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) with a 'help' question for psychological distress and psychiatric morbidity in patients with advanced cancer.

Psycho-oncology 2012 December
OBJECTIVES: Brief screening tools may help clinicians in busy settings detect patients who are experiencing severe psychological distress. This study examined the performance of the Distress Thermometer (DT) and a two-item depression screen [the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2)] with a 'help' question in screening for distress and psychiatric morbidity among patients with advanced cancer.

METHODS: Two hundred and five patients with advanced cancer completed the DT, the PHQ-2 and 'help' question and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). The performance of the screening tools was examined against the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the SCID.

RESULTS: Overall, discrimination levels were comparable for the DT [area under the curve (AUC) 0.80-0.81] and the PHQ-2 (AUC 0.73-0.85). The DT performed best in detecting cases of distress and mood, anxiety or adjustment disorders (sensitivity 100%), but it had poor specificity (49-60%). The best performance in terms of combined sensitivity and specificity was the PHQ depression item versus the SCID (sensitivity 88%, specificity 73%). The inclusion of the 'help' question with the PHQ-2 resulted in high levels of specificity (≥89%), but there was a significant drop in sensitivity (≤54%).

CONCLUSION: Ultra-brief screening tools offer an efficient means of identifying patients with advanced cancer with severe distress or psychiatric morbidity but are less effective at identifying non-distressed individuals. Used in conjunction with a 'help' question, these tools can help clinicians identify patients who are both distressed and likely to accept professional support.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app