Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19826136›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the National Cancer Institute2009

Screening for emotional distress in cancer patients: a systematic review of assessment instruments.

Andrea Vodermaier, Wolfgang Linden, Christopher Siu

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 193 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
193citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
14.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

193 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 538 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. The prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with cancer in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022
    Pooled it
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  7. Distress screening and supportive care referrals used by telephone-based health services: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020
    Pooled it
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  12. Accuracy of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale as a screening tool in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2011
    Pooled it
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  15. Integrated sleep and psychological interventions enhance postoperative recovery and quality of life in colorectal cancer: a randomized controlled trial.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
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  17. Factors associated with significant improvement in cancer-related fatigue after completing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in cancer survivors.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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133 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Andrea VodermaierDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. avoderma@psych.ubc.ca
Wolfgang Linden
Christopher Siu
BC Cancer Agency · CAUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research AQC83559
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Screening for emotional distress is becoming increasingly common in cancer care. This systematic review examines the psychometric properties of the existing tools used to screen patients for emotional distress, with the goal of encouraging screening programs to use standardized tools that have strong psychometrics. Systematic searches of MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases for English-language studies in cancer patients were performed using a uniform set of key words (eg, depression, anxiety, screening, validation, and scale), and the retrieved studies were independently evaluated by two reviewers. Evaluation criteria included the number of validation studies, the number of participants, generalizability, reliability, the quality of the criterion measure, sensitivity, and specificity. The literature search yielded 106 validation studies that described a total of 33 screening measures. Many generic and cancer-specific scales satisfied a fairly high threshold of quality in terms of their psychometric properties and generalizability. Among the ultrashort measures (ie, those containing one to four items), the Combined Depression Questions performed best in patients receiving palliative care. Among the short measures (ie, those containing five to 20 items), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. Among the long measures (ie, those containing 21-50 items), the Beck Depression Inventory and the General Health Questionaire-28 met all evaluation criteria. The PsychoSocial Screen for Cancer, the Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients-Revised, and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist are long measures that can also be recommended for routine screening. In addition, other measures may be considered for specific indications or disease types. Some measures, particularly newly developed cancer-specific scales, require further validation against structured clinical interviews (the criterion standard for validation measures) before they can be recommended.

Indexed as

Mass ScreeningPsychometricsAdjustment DisordersAnxiety DisordersDepressionDysthymic DisorderHumansMajor Depressive DisorderNeoplasmsReproducibility of ResultsStress, PsychologicalSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID19826136
PMCPMC3298956
OpenAlexW1996766132

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.