Development of a psychoeducational intervention for people affected by pancreatic cancer.

Background: Pancreatic cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of any malignancy, placing a substantial burden on patients and families with high unmet informational and supportive care needs. Nevertheless, access to psychosocial and palliative care services for the individuals affected is limited. There is a need for standardized approaches to facilitate adjustment and to improve knowledge about the disease and its anticipated impact.

A two-dimensional model of disrupted body integrity: initial evaluation in head and neck cancer.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study presents an initial psychometric evaluation of a two-dimensional (perceptual and evaluative) conceptualization and measure of disrupted body integrity (DBI)-illness-related disruption of the sense of the body as an integrated, smoothly functioning whole.

Methods: Male and female head and neck cancer (HNC) outpatients (N = 98) completed a questionnaire package prior to outpatient visits.

Main Outcome Measures: The Disrupted Body Integrity Scale (DBIS) was developed to measure the perceptual and evaluative facets of DBI.

Quality of life trajectories during the first year following hematopoietic cell transplantation: an inception cohort study.

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) affects quality of life (QOL). Patient-reported outcomes examine symptoms, side effects, distress, and physical and social problems, but positive outcomes have been ignored. This inception cohort study followed people over the first year following HCT to document positive and negative outcomes.

Do stigma and its psychosocial impact differ between Asian-born Chinese immigrants and Western-born Caucasians with head and neck cancer?

Stigma appears to influence emotional distress and well-being in cancer survivors, but cross-cultural differences have been ignored. Previous studies suggest that stigma may be especially relevant for survivors of Asian origin. However, their study designs (e.

Illness intrusiveness and subjective well-being in patients with glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common adult CNS malignancy but its impact on quality of life (QOL) is poorly understood. In other patient populations, illness intrusiveness (the extent to which disease and treatment disrupts valued activities and interests) is associated with low subjective well-being, after controlling for disease and treatment variables. In this cross-sectional cohort study, we examined the relations among illness intrusiveness, disease burden, and subjective well-being in GBM.

Empirical validation of the English version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory.

Purpose: Cancer patients report that help in managing fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is one of their greatest unmet needs. Research on FCR has been limited by the very few validated, multi-dimensional measures of this construct. One exception is the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI), originally developed and empirically validated in French.

Cultural considerations for South Asian women with breast cancer.

Purpose: Cultural values shape a woman's experience of disease and introduce novel stressors that influence psychosocial needs and adaptation. This literature review examines the psychosocial impact of breast cancer in South Asian women, a large group that has received little attention in this regard.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature published before April 2014 using Ovid MEDLINE, PsychINFO, PubMED, CINHAL, EMBASE, and Sociological Abstracts.

Distancing, self-esteem, and subjective well-being in head and neck cancer.

Background: Distancing (i.e. construing oneself as dissimilar to a negatively-stereotyped group) preserves self-esteem and may benefit other domains of subjective well-being.

Do behavioural self-blame and stigma predict positive health changes in survivors of lung or head and neck cancers?

Unlabelled: Survivors of lung or head and neck cancers often change tobacco and alcohol consumption after diagnosis, but few studies have examined other positive health changes (PHCs) or their determinants in these groups. The present study aims to: (a) document PHCs in survivors of lung (n = 107) or head and neck cancers (n = 99) and (b) examine behavioural self-blame and stigma as determinants of PHCs. We hypothesised that: (a) survivors would make a variety of PHCs; (b) behavioural self-blame for the disease would positively predict making PHCs; and (c) stigma would negatively predict making PHCs.

Waiting for thyroid surgery: a study of psychological morbidity and determinants of health associated with long wait times for thyroid surgery.

Objectives: Patients with thyroid pathology tend have longer surgical wait times. Uncertainty during this wait can have negative psychologically impact. This study aims to determine the degree of psychological morbidity in patients waiting for thyroid surgery.

Negative cancer stereotypes and disease-specific self-concept in head and neck cancer.

Background: Life-threatening diseases, such as head and neck cancer (HNCa), can stimulate the emergence of a new disease-specific self-concept. We hypothesized that (i) negative cancer-stereotypes invoke distancing, which inhibits the adoption of a disease-specific self-concept and (ii) patient characteristics, disease and treatment factors, and cancer-related stressors moderate the phenomenon.

Methods: Head and neck cancer outpatients (N = 522) completed a semantic-differential measure of disease-specific self-concept (perceived similarity to the 'cancer patient') and other self-report measures in structured interviews.

The burden of stress in head and neck cancer.

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNCa) introduces numerous stressors. We developed the Cancer-Related Stressors Checklist (CRSC), which documents exposure to seven categories of common stressors and emotional distress. We surveyed HNCa survivors and examined associations among exposure to cancer-related stressors, illness intrusiveness (i.

The psychosocial impact of stigma in people with head and neck or lung cancer.

Background: Lung and head and neck cancers are widely believed to produce psychologically destructive stigma because they are linked to avoidable risk-producing behaviors and are highly visible, but little research has tested these ideas. We examined cancer-related stigma, its determinants, and its psychosocial impact in lung (n = 107) and head and neck cancer survivors (n = 99) ≤ 3 years post-diagnosis. We investigated cancer site, self-blame, disfigurement, and sex as determinants, benefit finding as a moderator, and illness intrusiveness as a mediator of the relation between stigma and its psychosocial impact.

Measurement invariance of the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale's three-factor structure in men and women with cancer.

Objective: Illness- and treatment-related disruptions to valued activities and interests (illness intrusiveness) are central to quality of life in chronic disease and are captured by three subscales of the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS): the Instrumental, Intimacy, and Relationships and Personal Development subscales. Using individual (CFA) and multisample confirmatory factor analyses (MSCFA), we evaluated measurement invariance of the IIRS's 3-factor structure in men and women with cancer.

Method: Men (n = 210) and women (n = 206) with 1 of 4 cancer diagnoses (gastrointestinal, head and neck, lymphoma, lung) recruited from outpatient clinics completed the IIRS.

Do ongoing lifestyle disruptions differ across cancer types after the conclusion of cancer treatment?

Introduction: Cancer interferes with participation in valued lifestyle activities (illness intrusiveness) throughout post-treatment survivorship. We investigated whether illness intrusiveness differs across life domains among survivors with diverse cancers. Intrusiveness should be highest in activities requiring physical/cognitive functioning (instrumental domain).

Using the illness intrusiveness ratings scale to understand health-related quality of life in chronic disease.

Objective: Illness intrusiveness is a common, underlying determinant of quality of life in people affected by chronic disease. Illness intrusiveness results from disease- and treatment-induced disruptions to lifestyles, activities, and interests (i.e.

Exercise program to enhance physical performance and quality of life of older hemodialysis patients: a feasibility study.

Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of implementing a combined in-hospital and home-based exercise program in older hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Design: A prospective longitudinal 12-week pilot study.

Setting: A university hospital HD unit and patients' homes.

Cultural syndromes and age moderate the emotional impact of illness intrusiveness in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: The authors investigated cultural syndromes (multidimensional vectors comprising culturally based attitudes, values, and beliefs) and age as moderators of the emotional impact of illness intrusiveness--illness-induced lifestyle disruptions--in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and examined illness intrusiveness effects in total and separately for three life domains (relationships and personal development, intimacy, and instrumental).

Research Method/design: People with RA (n = 105) completed the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings, Individualism-Collectivism, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies--Depression scales in a one-on-one interview.

Results: Controlling for disease and background characteristics, the association between illness intrusiveness (total score and the Relationships and Personal Development subscale) and distress was inverse when young adults with RA endorsed high horizontal individualism.

Quality of life analysis in patients with anterior skull base neoplasms.

Background: Significant morbidity is associated with management of anterior skull base neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the posttreatment patient's quality of life (QOL).

Methods: A retrospective chart review identified 27 patients.

Emotional distress impacts fear of the future among breast cancer survivors not the reverse.

Introduction: Fear of the future is one of the most stressful aspects of having cancer. Research to date has conceptualized fear of the future as a precursor of distress or stress-response symptoms. Yet it is equally plausible that distress would predict increased fear of the future or that they would have a reciprocal influence on each other.

Predicting stress-related problems in long-term breast cancer survivors.

Introduction: Little is known about the early clinical and psychosocial factors associated with subsequent stress-related problems in breast cancer survivors.

Methods: We used data collected at 3, 7, 11, and 15 months post-diagnosis to predict stress-related problems in 86 breast cancer survivors at 6 years post-diagnosis. We examined two common stress-related problems: (a) emotional distress and (b) intrusion and avoidance.

Illness intrusiveness and subjective well-being in schizophrenia.

This study evaluated the extent to which schizophrenia and its treatment interferes with participation in valued life activities and its impact on subjective well-being. The Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale was completed by 78 individuals with schizophrenia on 3 measurement occasions. Clinicians working with participants, plus a relative/friend of each participant also provided independent ratings of the person.

Stigma in cancer patients whose behavior may have contributed to their disease.

The purpose of the present review is to examine stigma and its consequences among people with cancer, with an emphasis on the situation in which one's behavior may have contributed to the disease. We examine whether voluntarily engaging in behavior that adds to cancer risk leads to increased stigma after cancer onset, as compared with when one's behavior is not considered (by the affected individual or by others) to have contributed to the onset of cancer. We conducted literature searches in PsychInfo and Medline and identified 38 published papers that empirically addressed cancer-related stigma.

Seizure freedom reduces illness intrusiveness and improves quality of life in epilepsy.

Background: Chronic illnesses are associated with multiple stressors that compromise quality of life (QOL). Implicit in many of these stressors is the concept of illness intrusiveness: the disruption of lifestyles, activities, and interests due to the constraints imposed by chronic disease and its treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine illness intrusiveness and QOL in epilepsy in patients with different levels of seizure control.

Do allogeneic bone marrow transplant candidates match coping to controllability of pre-treatment stressors?

According to the Person x Situation theoretical framework, people adjust their coping to address the unique challenges of encountered stressors. Whether their strategies fit or appropriately address these stressor challenges influences adjustment. We examined the fit between pre-treatment stressors reported by hematological cancer patients awaiting allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (alloBMT) and their coping responses.