Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33932256›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2021

Patient-reported distress and age-related stress biomarkers among colorectal cancer patients.

Hyrum S Eddington, Megan McLeod, Amber W Trickey, Nicolas Barreto, Katherine Maturen, Arden M Morris

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Article in Cancer medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. CD20Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Hyrum S EddingtonS-SPIRE Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Megan McLeodUniversity of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Amber W TrickeyS-SPIRE Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Nicolas BarretoS-SPIRE Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Katherine MaturenDepartment of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Arden M MorrisS-SPIRE Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5795-2940

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveDistress among cancer patients has been broadly accepted as an important indicator of well-being but has not been well studied. We investigated patient characteristics associated with high distress levels as well as correlations among measures of patient-reported distress and "objective" stress-related biomarkers among colorectal cancer patients.

methodsIn total, 238 patients with colon or rectal cancer completed surveys including the Distress Thermometer, Problem List, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We abstracted demographic and clinical information from patient charts and determined salivary cortisol level and imaging-based sarcopenia. We evaluated associations between patient characteristics (demographics, clinical factors, and psychosocial and physical measures) and three outcomes (patient-reported distress, cortisol, and sarcopenia) with Spearman's rank correlations and multivariable linear regression. The potential moderating effect of age was separately investigated by including an interaction term in the regression models.

resultsPatient-reported distress was associated with gender (median: women 5.0, men 3.0, p < 0.001), partnered status (single 5.0, partnered 4.0, p = 0.018), and cancer type (rectal 5.0, colon 4.0, p = 0.026); these effects varied with patient age. Cortisol level was associated with "emotional problems" (ρ = 0.34, p = 0.030), anxiety (ρ = 0.46, p = 0.006), and depression (ρ = 0.54, p = 0.001) among younger patients. We found no significant associations between patient-reported distress, salivary cortisol, and sarcopenia.

conclusionsWe found that young, single patients reported high levels of distress compared to other patient groups. Salivary cortisol may have limited value as a cancer-related stress biomarker among younger patients, based on association with some psychosocial measures. Stress biomarkers may not be more clinically useful than patient-reported measures in assessing distress among colorectal cancer patients.

Indexed as

Patient Reported Outcome MeasuresAdolescentAdultAgedAge FactorsAnxietyBiomarkersColonic NeoplasmsDepressionFemaleHealth SurveysHumansHydrocortisoneLinear ModelsMaleMarital StatusBiomarkersHydrocortisonebiomarkercolorectal cancercortisoldistresspatient reported outcomessarcopenia

Identifiers

PMID33932256
PMCPMC8178484

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Registered trials

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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.