SynthesisBMJ open2018
Interventions to improve screening and appropriate referral of patients with cancer for psychosocial distress: systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Psychosocial interventions and health-related quality of life in adults with incurable cancer: systematic review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions to manage psychological distress in patients living with cancer: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2023Pooled it
- Guideline
- Impact of a Multidisciplinary Supportive Care Model Using Distress Screening at an Asian Ambulatory Cancer Center: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JCO oncology practice · 2024Trial
- Evaluation of an electronic psycho-oncological adaptive screening program (EPAS) with immediate patient feedback: findings from a German cluster intervention study.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2022Trial
- Trial
- When zero isn't nothing: excess zero scores in repeated distress screening of cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Implementing an electronic health record workflow to identify parents with cancer and implications for supportive oncology care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Article
- Development of the SAVE study protocol to use lived experience to assess the value of serious health-related suffering and palliative care.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Patient-Reported Symptoms and Mental Health Event Risks in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Patterns of mental health service utilisation in people with cancer compared with people without cancer: analysis of the Australian National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- Are breast cancer patients with low distress at diagnosis at risk of psychological symptoms later in their disease trajectory? Considerations for when to screen for distress.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2025Article
- Screening for Psychosocial Distress: A Brief Review with Implications for Oncology Nursing.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Exploring Men's Experiences with Follow-Up Care following Primary Treatment for Prostate Cancer in Atlantic Canada: A Qualitative Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Article
- A short screening tool identifying systemic barriers to distress screening in cancer care.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Willingness toward psychosocial support during cancer treatment: a critical yet challenging construct in psychosocial care.Translational behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- Unmet needs and wish for support of family caregivers of primary brain tumor patients.Neuro-oncology practice · 2023Article
- Psychological distress and associated factors among cancer patients in public hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- Towards identifying cancer patients at risk to miss out on psycho-oncological treatment via machine learning.European journal of cancer care · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe primary aim of the review was to determine the effectiveness of strategies to improve clinician provision of psychosocial distress screening and referral of patients with cancer.
designSystematic review. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)) were searched until July 2016. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Population: adult patients with cancer and clinical staff members.
interventionany strategy that aimed to improve the rate of routine screening and referral for detected distress of patients with cancer. Comparison: no intervention controls, 'usual' practice or alternative interventions. OUTCOME: (primary) any measure of provision of screening and/or referral for distress, (secondary) psychosocial distress, unintended adverse effects.
designtrials with or without a temporal comparison group, including randomised and non-randomised trials, and uncontrolled pre-post studies. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted data. Heterogeneity across studies precluded quantitative assessment via meta-analysis and so a narrative synthesis of the results is presented.
resultsFive studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies were set in oncology clinics or departments and used multiple implementation strategies. Using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation, the overall rating of the certainty of the body of evidence reported in this review was assessed as very low. Three studies received a methodological quality rating of weak and two studies received a rating of moderate. Only one of the five studies reported a significant improvement in referrals.
conclusionsThe review identified five studies of predominantly poor quality examining the effectiveness of strategies to improve the routine implementation of distress screening and referral for patients with cancer. Future research using robust research designs, including randomised assignment, are needed to identify effective support strategies to maximise the potential for successful implementation of distress screening and referral for patients with cancer. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42015017518.
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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.