The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado): an expert rating scale for the psychosocial experience of cancer patients.

Background: The integration of psycho-oncology into the medical care of cancer patients requires a transparent, reliable, and valid assessment of psychosocial stress. The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado), including a short version and a breast cancer-specific version, is such an instrument. The purpose of this article is to present the current stage of development of the 3 versions.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology, a tool for standardized assessment of cancer patients.

Objective: This study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado), an expert rating scale designed for the comprehensive assessment of psychosocial and physical distress in cancer patients. While there are many self-report measures (usually used for screening purposes), the PO-Bado is the first standardized clinician-administered instrument to guide professionals in a focused and structured psycho-oncological assessment.

Methods: The validation procedure was performed in 596 patients from different settings of cancer care, including all cancer sites and stages of the disease.

The scales of psychological capacities: Measuring beyond symptoms.

The Scales of Psychological Capacities (SPC) are introduced as a new measure of structural change as the mode-specific effect of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The design and results of an interrater reliability study, a convergent and discriminant validity study with well-established construct-near and construct-distant measures, and a discriminant validity study with different diagnostic groups are presented. The results indicate substantial evidence that the SPC are a reliable and valid measure of psychic structure and, if their sensitivity to change is proven, are a suitable instrument for psychoanalytic process-outcome research.

[Interdisciplinary psychoeducational intervention by oncologists proved helpful for cancer patients].

Objectives: We prospectively evaluated the effects of a six-session psychoeducational intervention held by medical doctors or psychologists in a German acute cancer center setting.

Methods: A cluster randomization was used to assign n=108 oncologic patients (55 female, 53 male; mean age=58.5) to the intervention or the control group.

[Structured patient education in oncology. A prospective study for implementing and effectiveness of interdisciplinary psycho-educational group intervention at a German university clinic].

Aim: To identify the target group for a structured educational group intervention in an acute cancer care setting, and to prove its effectiveness.

Patients And Methods: Cancer patients were given an opportunity to join an educational group intervention lasting 3 weeks (consisting of six times 1 hour). The intervention consisted of two major components: health education and coping skills.