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Objective: Our aim is to examine whether provider screening for physical and emotional symptoms, as reported by medical oncology outpatients, varies across medical oncology treatment centres.Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 716 patients attending the outpatient medical oncology department of six public cancer treatment centres across five Australian states participated. Four patient-report survey items explored how often patients were specifically asked by clinical staff at the treatment centre about their (i) emotional distress (anxiety, distress and depression), (ii) pain, (iii) fatigue and (iv) other physical symptoms (e.g. nausea and constipation). Asking at less than half of all appointments was classified as infrequent screening.Results: No significant associations were found between treatment centre and symptom screening for emotional distress (p = 0.65), pain (p = 0.21), fatigue (p = 0.95) and other physical symptoms (p = 0.40). The proportion of patients who were regularly screened versus infrequently screened was significantly higher for physical symptoms than emotional symptoms (p < 0.001): 36% infrequently screened for emotional distress (range: 33-45%), 15% infrequently screened for pain (range: 9-21%), 16% infrequently screened for fatigue (range: 15-19%) and 11% infrequently screened for other physical symptoms (range: 5-17%).Conclusions: No significant variation in symptom screening was found across treatment centres. While the majority of patients received recommended care, treatment centres must continue to improve symptom screening rates, particularly for emotional distress. However, screening is only the first step and must be accompanied by the offer of help and provision of help to relieve patient suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although elevated psychological distress is commonly reported among cancer patients, our understanding of patients' preferences for, and perceived barriers to, accessing psychological support from key cancer care providers is limited. The aim of this study was to assess cancer patients' level of concern about, and willingness to discuss, their anxiety and depression.Methods: Radiation oncology outpatients completed a touchscreen computer survey with questions assessing their concern about and willingness to discuss anxiety and depression.Results: Among consenting respondents (n = 145), 51% (95% CI: 43%-59%) were concerned about their levels of anxiety, and 34% (95% CI: 26%-42%) about their levels of depression. If experiencing anxiety or depression, 92% (95% CI: 87%-96%) would want to discuss this with their general practitioner (GP), and 60% (95% CI: 52%-68%) with their cancer doctor. Almost half of the 58 respondents who would not want to discuss anxiety or depression with their cancer doctor indicated that this was because there were more important things to talk about during their appointment.Conclusions: The majority of cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy would be willing to discuss anxiety and depression with their cancer doctor and GP. These findings provide additional support for service delivery models in which GPs and oncologists play key roles in initiating and coordinating discussions about cancer patients' psychosocial concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Few population-based studies have assessed the needs of haematological cancer survivors or conducted international comparisons. We aimed to assess and compare the unmet needs of Australian and Canadian haematological cancer survivors. Methods Two cross-sectional datasets were analysed. Survivors were recruited from population-based cancer registries and sent a self-report survey containing the Survivors Unmet Needs Survey. Australians were aged 18-80 years at the time of study and diagnosed in the last 3 years. Canadians were diagnosed 1-5 years prior and aged 19 years and over at diagnosis. Results A total of 268 Australian and 169 Canadian survivors returned a completed survey. 'Dealing with feeling tired' was identified as the highest concern by survivors. Country (LRχ2 = 4.0(1), p = 0.045) was associated with survivors reporting a 'high/very high' unmet need with 'worry about earning money,' with Australians reporting marginally nonsignificantly higher odds than Canadians (OR 2.1; 95% CI; 0.99, 4.3). Country was not significantly associated with any other outcome. Having a personal expense in the last month as a result of having cancer, younger age at diagnosis, female sex, vocational or other level education, and consulting a health care professional for cancer treatment or concerns about cancer in the last month were associated with multiple areas of need. Conclusions Australian and Canadian haematological cancer survivors were found to experience similar levels of unmet needs. Overall, haematological cancer survivors may require additional assistance in dealing with feeling tired. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]