The role of patient activation in mediating the effects of health literacy level on quality of life among patients with gastrointestinal cancers.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers present significant health challenges, necessitating strategies to improve patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Health literacy (HL) and patient activation (PA) are key factors in patient self-management, yet their interplay and impact on HRQoL remain unclear. This study investigates the relationship between HL, PA, and HRQoL in GI cancer patients, with a focus on PA as a potential mediator between HL and HRQoL.

Factors associated with reduction in quality of life after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Long-term changes in health-related quality of life (HrQoL) after SARS-CoV-2 infection are common, but their causes and consequences are poorly understood. This prospective, population-based study examined associations between HrQoL and 49 demographic and clinical variables. HrQoL was assessed using the European Quality-of-Life-5-Dimensions-5-Level-Version in 3,475 participants (56% female; aged 18-88 years) approximately 9 months (baseline) and 26 months (follow-up) after their initial infection.

Current trends in e-mental health interventions: Health care providers' attitudes and usage patterns.

Objective: -mental health interventions can usefully supplement mental health care. Health care providers are important to the routine implementation. Until now, little has been known about their attitudes about e-mental health and its use in treatment.

Social support in a large general population sample over the course of six years.

Social support is an important resource that is assumed to buffer the effect of stressful events on health. The aims of this study were to test psychometric properties of the ENRICHD Social Support Instrument (ESSI), to investigate the impact of several sociodemographic and behavioral variables on social support, and to analyze changes in social support over a 6-year period. A sample of 9,681 people from the general population was examined at baseline, 4,987 of whom were surveyed at a follow-up examination six years later using the ESSI and several other questionnaires.

The impact of experiential avoidance on anxiety and depressive disorders in hematological cancer patients.

Anxiety disorders and/or depressive disorders co-occurring with hematological cancer are an additional burden for patients. Experiential avoidance (EA; efforts to avoid negative emotions, thoughts, or memories) is an empirically evident transdiagnostic factor for the onset and maintenance of anxiety and depressive disorders in non-cancer populations. There is lack of evidence on the impact of EA in predicting anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Psychosocial distress, perceived need and utilization of psycho- social support services in patients in the early phase after the first cancer diagnosis.

Purpose: Due to the growing number of new oncological diagnosis and the accompanying psychosocial burden, needs-based psycho-oncological care is important. Adequate planning of psycho-oncological support services is therefore becoming increasingly important. In order to better implement psycho-oncological support services, we investigate psychosocial distress, perceived need and utilization of psycho-oncological support offers in newly diagnosed cancer patients.

Exploring how attachment insecurities mediate the link between sexual and partnership satisfaction in adolescents and young adults with cancer.

Background And Purpose: Comprehensive data on factors affecting partnership satisfaction among adolescents and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors are limited. Our study examines partnership satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and attachment insecurities, exploring how attachment-related anxiety and avoidance influence the relationship between sexual and partnership satisfaction across major tumor entities in this population.

Patients And Methods: We utilized data from two measurement time points (t1 and t6) of the AYA-LE study, a prospective longitudinal investigation examining the temporal course and associated factors of life satisfaction and psychological distress among AYA cancer survivors.

Changes in life satisfaction over six years in the general population: A longitudinal study with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).

Background: Satisfaction with life is a key concept for most individuals. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) for measuring general life satisfaction has been widely analyzed in terms of cross-sectional associations. However, the knowledge about long-term changes in life satisfaction and the associations between such changes and changes in other variables of physical and mental health is limited.

Course of Mental Disorders in Early Cancer Survivorship in Relation to Socioeconomic Status: A Multi-Center Prospective Longitudinal Study (LUPE).

Objective: Individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES) exhibit higher rates of mental disorders; however, data in oncological populations are insufficient. This study investigated the course of DSM-5 mental disorders in cancer patients, stratified by SES, over a period of 1.5 years following initial cancer diagnosis.

Occupational adjustments and work ability of young adult cancer survivors: results from the AYA-Leipzig study.

Purpose: Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYA-CS) face a long working life after treatment, yet factors related to a successful return to work remain largely unexplored. We therefore aimed to investigate the use of occupational adjustments and their impact on work ability upon return to work.

Methods: As part of the AYA-LE study, we surveyed AYA-CS (aged 18-39 at diagnosis) who returned to work and assessed work ability (Work Ability Index) as well as use and benefit of occupational adjustments.

Lower extremity lymphedema in patients with gynecologic cancer: Validation of the Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) in German language and investigation of lymphedema real-world treatment.

Purpose: The Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) is an established patient-reported outcome measure for lower extremity lymphedema (LEL) in gynecologic oncology. We aimed to validate the GCLQ in German language (GCLQ-GER) for lymphedema detection in German-speaking patients and also investigated real-world patterns of lymphedema treatment.

Methods: The GCLQ was translated from English into German in accordance with the standards of a professional translation process.

[Psychological support for people with cancer].

The number of people living with or after cancer is steadily increasing due to an ageing society and improved cancer treatment. However, once treatment has been completed, the consequences of the disease are often felt for a long time. These affect many different areas of life and often lead to a high level of suffering and need for care.

Social Support, Depression and Anxiety in Cancer Patient-Relative Dyads in Early Survivorship: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling Approach.

Objective: Cancer places a psychological burden on both patients and their relatives. Perceived social support influences the extent of psychological distress. Our aim was to investigate associations between positive support, detrimental interactions, depression and anxiety in patient-relative dyads in the initial period after diagnosis.

Global unmet psychosocial needs in cancer care: health policy.

Unlabelled: Preventable psychosocial suffering is an unmet need in patients with cancer around the world, significantly compromising quality of life and impairing cancer health outcomes. This narrative review overviews the global prevalence of emotional distress and cancer-related needs and the access barriers to psychosocial care. The COVID-19 pandemic has served only to amplify the need for psychosocial care, exacerbating the inadequacy of available psychosocial resources, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Identifying central dimensions of quality of life including life-related values, preferences and functional health in older patients with cancer: a scoping review protocol.

Background: Older patients with cancer already represent the largest proportion of cancer survivors which will further increase in the upcoming years. However, older patients are highly underrepresented in clinical research, leading to a detrimental knowledge gap. Research on important aspects of quality of life (QoL) and associated factors for older patients with cancer is insufficient to date.

[Partnership Status And Prevalence Of Mental Disorders In Women And Men With Cancer].

Background: Patients facing the diagnosis of cancer are confronted with high stress levels, which increase the risk of developing a mental disorder. Being in a relationship moderates patients' mental health and can have a risk-reducing effect. We aim to describe the influence of partnership status on the 4-week-prevalence of mental disorders in cancer patients and how it varies by gender.

Health-related quality of life in older hematological cancer survivors (70+) compared to older general population-A German cancer-register-based cross-sectional comparative study.

Objectives: The extent of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) impairments in older hematological cancer survivors (HCS) has not been sufficiently studied. We therefore examined HRQOL in older HCS compared to a community sample (CS) and investigated sociodemographic, disease- and treatment-specific, geriatric, and psychosocial factors associated with reduced HRQOL.

Materials And Methods: In this cancer-register-based cross-sectional comparative study 200 HCS, aged ≥70 years, and 252 persons of an age- and gender-matched CS completed validated questionnaires including the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-ELD14.

Estimating the prevalence of mental disorders in patients with newly diagnosed cancer in relation to socioeconomic status: a multicenter prospective observational study.

Background: The purpose of this study was to provide the 4-week prevalence estimates of mental disorders in newly diagnosed cancer patients in relation to socioeconomic status (SES).

Patients And Methods: We enrolled newly diagnosed patients with a confirmed solid tumor within 2 months of diagnosis. We calculated patients' SES on the basis of their educational level, professional qualification, income and occupational status.

[Psycho-oncology-psychosocial distress and supportive care needs].

The number of patients living with or after cancer is constantly increasing due to improved diagnostics and care as well as the ageing society. This is particularly true for the group of older cancer survivors with complex health and supportive care needs. For many of those affected and their relatives, the disease and its treatment are accompanied by high levels of emotional stress, an impaired quality of life, and a variety of psychosocial challenges.

Temporal stability of optimism and pessimism (LOT-R) over 6 years in the general population.

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine changes in habitual optimism over a six-year period and to analyze the relationship between changes in optimism and changes in other quality of life-related variables.

Method: A randomly selected community sample of the German adult general population ( = 4,965) was surveyed twice, with a time interval of 6.04 years.

Peer2Me - evaluation of a peer supported program for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients: study protocol of a randomised trial using a comprehensive cohort design.

Background: Developing cancer in young adulthood is a non-normative life event and associated with adverse physical, social and psychological consequences. High psychological distress is common in AYA cancer patients including anxiety, depression or fear of recurrence. At the same time, it is well known that AYA often report unmet needs for support, particularly in terms of informational exchange and emotional support from peers in order to benefit from shared experiences and enhance self-efficacy.

[Oncological Disease and Pregnancy Denial: Psychological Support and Interdisciplinary Collaboration].

In the following casuistry, a denied advanced pregnancy was discovered during the diagnosis of an oncological disease. Faced with a life-threatening condition, the patient urged late termination of the pregnancy and was introduced to psychological counselling in order to find a viable and ethically justifiable solution. Strategies for crisis intervention and supportive approaches in the patient's care as well as interdisciplinary collaboration are presented and discussed.

Digital Therapeutic (Mika) Targeting Distress in Patients With Cancer: Results From a Nationwide Waitlist Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Distress is highly prevalent among patients with cancer, but supportive care needs often go unmet. Digital therapeutics hold the potential to overcome barriers in cancer care and improve health outcomes.

Objective: This study conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of Mika, an app-based digital therapeutic designed to reduce distress across the cancer trajectory.