Publications by authors named "Holzner B"

Health related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasingly assessed in oncology research and routine care, which has led to the inclusion of HRQoL in prediction models. This review aims to describe the current state of oncological prediction models incorporating HRQoL. A systematic literature search for the inclusion of HRQoL in prediction models in oncology was conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: To assess fatigue in cancer patients, several patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are available that differ in content. To support the selection of suitable measures for specific applications and to evaluate possibilities of quantitative linking, the present study provides a content comparison of common fatigue measures, scales, and item banks. We included the EORTC CAT Core, EORTC QLQ-FA12, EORTC QLQ-C30, FACIT-F, PROMIS Fatigue (Cancer item bank v1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Quality of life (QoL) in patients undergoing surveillance for uveal melanoma (UM) can be affected by psychological sequelae. Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) may be acute especially when prognostication indicates an increased risk of metastatic recurrence. Communication with an ophthalmologist or oncologist can then play a key role in impacting QoL.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cancer care places a heavy economic burden on families and health systems, driven by high treatment costs, lengthy hospital stays, and the necessity for extensive travel to specialized facilities. To address this challenge, an integrated health care network (IHCN) was implemented for maintenance treatment in acute leukemia. The IHCN encompassed outpatient services provided by local physicians and synchronous telemedicine consultation with pediatric oncologists.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to develop utility weights for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLU-C10D, a cancer-specific utility instrument, tailored to the Norwegian and Swedish populations. The utility weights are intended for use in the specific welfare contexts of Norway and Sweden to support more precise healthcare decision-making in cancer treatment and care.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1019 Norwegian and 1048 Swedish participants representative in age and gender of the two general populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) that assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are increasingly important in renal cell cancer (RCC) clinical trials for drug approval and policy making.
  • The review identified 48 studies, mostly randomized controlled trials, that utilized 27 different PROMs, but only a small fraction were specifically designed for kidney cancer patients; 46% didn’t use any RCC-specific PROMs at all.
  • The most commonly used PROMs focused on issues like pain, fatigue, and sleep quality, highlighting a lack of consistency in the tools used, which complicates the comparison of findings across studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unparalleled impact, precipitating not only direct threats to physical health but also widespread economic and psychological challenges. This study aims to explore the dynamics of coping behaviour and psychological distress (PD) across different phases of the pandemic within an adult general population sample, spanning Austria and Italy.

Methods: An online questionnaire-based panel study was conducted between 2020 and 2023 including three measurements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There are different modes and ways to assess patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical trials. However, there is little systematic information on how often different modes of assessment (MOA) are used in cancer clinical trials and how exactly assessments are conducted. The goal of this scoping review is to gain an understanding of the MOA and data management of PROs in cancer randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and the reporting quality thereof.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study explored the relationship between resilience and psychological distress during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on patients with severe mental illness (SMI) and major depressive disorder (MDD), compared to healthy controls.
  • - A total of 141 patients with SMI or MDD and 584 healthy community members participated in a survey measuring psychological distress and resilience.
  • - Results revealed that both patient groups had significantly higher psychological distress and lower resilience than healthy controls, with MDD patients being particularly vulnerable; enhancing resilience could greatly benefit these individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Passive psychoeducation is an easily accessible and cost-effective self-guided intervention that does not use elements of active psychotherapies or require homework. The present study aimed to investigate the acceptability and efficacy of a 7-week app-based passive psychoeducation stress management program to promote adaptive emotion regulation and coping skills in university students (i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluates the WISP (Write In three Symptoms/Problems) tool, which allows cancer patients to report additional symptoms not covered by standard questionnaires, aiming to improve symptom recognition during active and palliative care.
  • Conducted across several countries, the research involved translating and pilot testing the instrument, interviewing patients, and analyzing their responses to gauge understanding and acceptability.
  • Results from the study indicated high acceptability of WISP among patients, with findings revealing different prevalent symptoms based on treatment status, supporting WISP’s recommendation for use alongside existing EORTC questionnaires for comprehensive symptom assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Over the past years, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in daily routines. Although the pandemic has affected almost everyone, it has been particularly challenging for people with pre-existing mental health conditions. Therefore, this study investigated the long-term impact of resilience and extraversion on psychological distress in individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders (MHD) compared to the general population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: In this study, we developed Danish utility weights for the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLU-C10D, a cancer-specific utility instrument based on the EORTC QLQ-C30.

Methods: Following a standardized methodology, 1001 adult participants from the Danish general population were quota-sampled and completed a cross-sectional web-based survey and discrete choice experiment (DCE). In the DCE, participants considered 16 choice sets constructed from the key 10 dimensions of the QLU-C10D and chose their preferred health state for each one.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and related measures have negatively impacted mental health worldwide. The main objective of the present longitudinal study was to investigate mental health in people living in Tyrol (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy) during the COVID-19 pandemic and to report the prevalence of psychological distress among individuals with versus those without pre-existing mental health disorders (MHD) in the long-term (summer 2020-winter 2022). Here, we specifically focus on the relevance of spirituality and perceived social support in this regard.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Cigarette smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of premature death worldwide. There is evidence in the literature that brief exercise units indoors can improve well-being in temporarily abstinent smokers and reduce cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Objective: Because exercise in natural environments showed enhanced psychological effects, the aim of our study was to examine the acute effects of outdoor exercise compared with indoor exercise on craving, withdrawal symptoms and affective response in temporarily abstinent smokers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To provide equipercentile equating of physical function (PF) scores from frequently used patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in cancer patients to facilitate data pooling and comparisons.

Study Design And Setting: Adult cancer patients from five European countries completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) computer adaptive test (CAT) Core, EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire Version 3.0 (QLQ-C30), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G), 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function 20a short form.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K10) and its 6-item short-form version (K6) measure psychological distress, particularly anxiety or depressive symptoms. While these questionnaire scales are widely used in various settings and populations, general population normative data are rarely available. To facilitate the interpretation of K10 and K6 scores, we provide normative general population data from seven European countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a frequent and burdensome sequela of cancer and cancer therapies. It can persist from months to years and has a substantial impact on patients' quality of life and functioning. CRF is often still not adequately diagnosed and insufficiently treated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The EORTC QLU-C10D is a new preference-based measure derived from the EORTC QLQ-C30. Country-specific value sets are required to support the cost-utility analysis of cancer-related interventions. This study aimed to generate an EORTC QLU-C10 value set for Hong Kong (HK).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients' reports of their health status are increasingly used in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) to better understand the negative impact on symptom burden and quality of life. Little is known regarding the implementation in routine clinical care, particularly how it can be used to improve supportive care. We sought to the evaluate feasibility of capturing daily patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in the acute phase of SCT to measure physical and psychosocial symptom burden.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patient-reported outcomes are considered the gold standard for assessing subjective health status in oncology patients. Electronic assessment of patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) has become increasingly popular in recent years in both clinical trials and practice. However, there is limited evidence on how well older patients with cancer can complete ePRO assessments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The use of software to monitor patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can improve outcomes for patients with cancer receiving anticancer therapy; however, evidence from applications used in routine clinical practice is lacking.

Objective: We aimed to investigate adherence to and patient perceptions of a weekly, web-based PROM symptom monitoring program in routine clinical practice for patients with Multiple Myeloma. Moreover, we aimed to capture how clinical alerts prompted by the system influenced clinical care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study examines how patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures assess role functioning (RF) and social functioning (SF) in cancer patients, aligning with the World Health Organization’s definition of health.
  • It analyzes various PRO measures, including the EORTC and FACT-G, linking their content to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework.
  • The findings reveal both overlaps and distinctions in what these measures cover regarding social health, providing insights for selecting the most suitable measurement tools for specific research or clinical contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: A high prevalence of mental disorders following COVID-19 has been described. It is therefore essential to elucidate underlying biological mechanisms linking SARS-CoV-2 infection and mental health. The kynurenine and catecholamine metabolic pathways are modulated by inflammation and can affect systemic levels of serotonin and dopamine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We conducted a retrospective analysis to determine the potential reduction in treatment burden through the expansion of virtual care among children with leukemia (n = 152). Patients living in urban areas traveled median distances of 1555 km compared with 7536 km for patients living in rural areas (p < .05).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF