gms | German Medical Science

During the acute-phase primary cancer therapy, the patients usually are not apt to cope with their individual psychooncological situation . In this period, the availability of psychotherapeutic support may be restricted by lack of time and/or manpower.

In the subsequent in-patient rehabilitation ("Anschlußheilbehandlung", AHB) however, it is intended to ameliorate the somatic handicaps. In addition, the patients may start to work on the given psychooncological problems, assisted by professional psychotherapists.

The need for psychotherapeutic help may vary widely, even in an identical somatic-oncological situation. The patients‘ psochooncological require-ments are usually being assessed based on the first contact by physicians with variable experience in this field, or in a group session guided by a psychologist. Since the draw-backs of these procedures are obvious, we developped a simple 12-item questionnaire regarding the vegetative and psychosocial condition of the patient. As 13th item, the patient was asked directly whether she/he wanted psychotherapeutic support. The question-naire was based on the PsychoOnkologische Basisdokumentation (Arbeitsgruppe PO-Bado 2003, München).

Since >3000 cancer in-patients are being cared for in our clinic per annum, were are able to give statistically reliable data on the patients‘ requirements depending on their ICD-10 diagnosis, on the self-assessment of vegetative symptoms and psychic/psychosocial disturbances.

In addition to the psychological results produced, our questionnaire is a valuable tool for the peer, reviewing the daily psychooncological care, and for optimizing the psychooncological structures in a rehabilitation clinic.