Psychosocial stress of dermatology inpatients and their relatives - Comparison of patients with and without cancer.

Background: In the clinical treatment pathways of certified oncological centers, psychotherapeutic services are mandatory. Although patients with somatic, non-oncological illnesses show an equally high prevalence of psychosocial stress, these guidelines do not exist for the general hospital sector. Are these patients really less burdened and is psychological support only needed in individual cases? The example of dermatological patients will be used to show whether the need for psychosocial care and the desire for support vary between individuals with and without malignant disease.

Patients And Methods: Using the Hornheider screening instrument and distress thermometer, 216 dermatological inpatients assessed their psychosocial stress and that of a close relative. In addition, they were asked about their desire for support and preferred support provider.

Results: i) Patients without skin cancer were more frequently and more severely distressed than cancer patients. ii) Patients of both groups assessed their relatives to be approximately equally distressed. Compared with their own distress, cancer patients assessed their relatives as more frequently and on average more severely distressed. More than 50 % of all patients regarded their own disease as the cause of their relatives' distress. iii) The desire for support in both groups was about 18 %. iv) Doctors and psychologists were usually named as potential contact persons.

Conclusions: The expansion of psychosocial support services for non-tumor patients and their relatives seems necessary. The establishment of appropriate screening methods should be considered. Further studies in other clinical areas are required.