ArticlePalliative medicine2021
Validation of the Distress Thermometer in patients with advanced cancer receiving specialist palliative care in a hospice setting.
Article in Palliative medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07554677 (Feasibility of a Co-designed PRe-radiotherapy Exercise Programme for People With Stage I-III Non-small Cell Lung cAnCEr), which is not on this map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
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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.
Feasibility of a Co-designed PRe-radiotherapy Exercise Programme for People With Stage I-III Non-small Cell Lung cAnCEr: A Single-centre, Single Arm Pilot Study
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Chronic stress and myeloid immunosuppression in cancer: A neuroimmune link to behavioral dysfunction.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Review
- Distress level in newly diagnosed thyroid cancer patients and predictors of clinically significant distress.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the Distress Thermometer in Pelvic Exenteration: Responsiveness-To-Change, Convergent Validity, and Clinical Cutoff.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Validation of the Distress Thermometer for detecting psychological distress in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: optimal cut-off score and influencing factors.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Behavioral-Emotional Functioning of Children of Parents with Early Compared to Advanced Cancer.Journal of palliative medicine · 2025Article
- Psycho-Oncology in Breast Cancer: Supporting Women Through Distress, Treatment, and Recovery-Three Arguments-Rapid Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Article
- Systematic interventions based on the stress-induced situation, affective, bodily, and cognitive reactions framework to mitigate psychological distress in lung cancer patients post-thoracoscopic surgery: a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Existential suffering as an indication for palliative sedation: Identifying and addressing challenges.Palliative & supportive care · 2024Article
- An Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention for Preoperative Anxiety and Distress Among Adults Undergoing Oncological Surgery: Protocol for a 3-Phase Development and Feasibility Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Evaluating quality of life in pediatric palliative care: a cross-sectional analysis of children's and parents' perspectives.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Project EPIC (Early Palliative Care In COPD): A Formative and Summative Evaluation of the EPIC Telehealth Intervention.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Article
- Symptom burden, psychosocial distress and palliative care needs in heart failure - A cross-sectional explorative pilot study.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2023Article
- The role of companion animals in advanced cancer: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- Conceptualising effective symptom management in palliative care: a novel model derived from qualitative data.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- Anxiety and Depression in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- RELIEF: A Digital Health Tool for the Remote Self-Reporting of Symptoms in Patients with Cancer to Address Palliative Care Needs and Minimize Emergency Department Visits.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2021Article
- The Validity of the Distress Thermometer in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.Ophthalmology. GlaucomaArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOngoing assessment of psychological reaction to illness in palliative and end of life care settings is recommended, yet validated tools are not routinely used in clinical practice. The Distress Thermometer is a short screening tool developed for use in oncology, to detect individuals who would benefit from further psychological assessment. However the optimal cut-off to detect indicative psychological morbidity in patients with advanced cancer receiving specialist palliative care is unclear.
aimTo provide the first validation of the Distress Thermometer in an advanced cancer population receiving specialist palliative care in a UK hospice setting.
designReceiver Operating Characteristics analysis was used to compare the sensitivity and specificity of cut-offs indicative of psychological morbidity on the Distress Thermometer in comparison to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. SETTING/
participantsData were derived from 202 patients with advanced cancer who were approached on admission to inpatient or day hospice care, with 139 patients providing complete data on both measures.
resultsThe area under the curve was optimal using a Distress Thermometer cut-off score of ⩾6 for total distress and for anxiety, and a cut-off score of ⩾4 optimal when screening for depression.
conclusionsThe Distress Thermometer is a valid, accurate screening tool to be used in advanced cancer but with caution in relation to the lack of specificity. With little variation between the area under the curve scores, arguably a Distress Thermometer cut-off score of ⩾5 is most appropriate in screening for all types of psychological morbidity if sensitivity is to be prioritised.
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