Post-traumatic stress symptoms in long-term disease-free cancer survivors and their family caregivers.

Background: The experience of cancer is highly stressful and potentially traumatic. We assessed the presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) in long-term cancer survivors and their caregivers, while examining the association between PTSS and clinical, demographic and psychological variables in the long term.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study 212 survivor-family caregiver dyads completed measures of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) (Impact of Event Scale), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale).

Caregiver Emotional Burden in Testicular Cancer Patients: From Patient to Caregiver Support.

Testicular cancer is the most common tumor in young males aged 15-40 years. The overall cure rate for men with testicular cancer is >90%, so a huge number of these patients will become testicular cancer survivors. These people may feel some stress in the experience of diagnosis, treatment, and consequences that affects the quality of life, and during follow-up, especially when new issues and emotional distresses appear over time, such as late side-effects of treatments and emotional challenges including fear of tumor relapse, fertility and sexuality concerns, and social and workplace issues.

Relationship of demoralization with anxiety, depression, and quality of life: A Southern European study of Italian and Portuguese cancer patients.

Background: Demoralization syndrome is a significant condition that has not been greatly studied in Southern European countries.

Aims: To extend the knowledge of demoralization in Southern Europe by examining its prevalence according to different methods of assessment, its relationship with anxiety and depression, and its impact on quality of life (QoL) among cancer patients.

Methods: A convenience sample of 195 cancer outpatients from two oncology centers (102 from Lisbon, Portugal, and 93 from Ferrara, Italy) participated in an observational, cross-sectional study using the Diagnostic Criteria of Psychosomatic Research-Demoralization interview (DCPR/D) and psychometric tools (Demoralization scale-DS; Patient Health Questionnaire-9/PHQ-9; Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale-HADS; and European Quality of Life-5-EQ-5D).