Photo Credit: Yacobchuk
Shelley Johns, PsyD, joins Physician’s Weekly, for one final installment. She emphasizes the importance of standardized screening for fear of recurrence in breast cancer survivors, highlighting the use of tools like the distress thermometer and problem list, developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Transcript:
We believe, and many others believe as well, that standardized screening for fear of recurrence because it is so common, could be really useful in improving care for cancer survivors. And so many cancer centers are already using the distress thermometer and problem list that is recommended and developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. That tool, the problem list does have a couple of items on it that assess for fear and then also for worry and anxiety. So that is one tool that may already be used that can help heighten awareness of which survivors may be struggling with fear of recurrence. Beyond that, there are some validated tools that could be used that are brief, that would not add too much burden to the survivor, where fear of recurrence could be assessed on a regular basis during survivorship visits.
So there is a one item measure, there’s a four item measure, a seven item measure, a nine item measure, and some of those measures have clinical cut points so that then referral can be made based on whether the survivor has mild, moderate, or severe fear of occurrence. So based on everything that I have said, we have included some links to some of these tools below for your convenience.
I just want to reiterate that fear of recurrence is, it’s common, it’s prevalent, it’s understandable. And so I think anything that we can do to support our survivors in realizing that they are not alone in their fear, and then also offering them action steps that they can take to manage their fear of occurrence with greater ease. I think that is the most important thing that all of us as oncology clinicians can do for our patients.
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