Wright, P orcid.org/0000-0001-6129-4143, Smith, A, Roberts, K et al. (2 more authors) (2007) Screening for social difficulties in cancer patients: clinical utility of the Social Difficulties Inventory. British Journal of Cancer, 97. pp. 1063-1070. ISSN 0007-0920
Abstract
Guidelines for psychosocial support have been developed, but there are no standard approaches in routine oncology practice to identify patients experiencing social difficulties. We have designed and evaluated a Social Difficulties Inventory (SDI) to identify patients requiring further assessment and, where appropriate, referral to support services. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically meaningful SDI scoring system with guidance for oncology staff. Out of 189 patients, 183 completed the SDI and were interviewed by a social work researcher who scored the SDI independently. Comparison of patient/interviewer assessment was good (intraclass correlation 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.51, 0.70). Using top 10% of interviewer social distress (SD) scores to indicate ‘SD case’, the best ‘cut-point’ was a patient score of 10 (sensitivity=0.80; specificity=0.76; 56 out of 183 ‘cases’). Out of 127 patients, 72 with SD score <10 had individual SDI item rated at a higher level. Following interview, 32 patients were referred to specialist services, 46 given information and 112 had no action taken. An interpretation algorithm developed includes SD score, individual SDI item rating, and an additional general question, illustrated using four case scenarios. In conclusion, general guidance for interpreting the SDI has been developed to enhance health-care professional/patient consultations with a view to identifying patients who may benefit from support, advice or intervention.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2007 Cancer Research UK. From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Keywords: | social difficulties; patient-centred assessment |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology (LICAP) > Biomarkers and Therapy (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology (LICAP) > Clinical Cancer Research (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 05 Sep 2019 09:01 |
Last Modified: | 05 Sep 2019 09:03 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604006 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:90565 |