Psychological counseling to manage anxiety in oncology patients undergoing diagnostic screening: A feasibility pilot study
Malihe Shams, Maria Concetta Carlucci, Massimo Cacco, Ezio Sanavio, Oscar Bortolami
Diagnostic tests have a deep emotional impact on oncology patients. Anxiety and worries can lead
people to avoid screening tests, with high risks for health. A single arm, pilot study was organized to
evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of psychological counselling for cancer patients who demonstrated
anxiety for diagnostic tests. The hypothesis was that taking part in Psychoeducative Training could
offer a new modality to reduce anxiety, before and during tests, and also the possibility to reinforce
coping strategies. The Psychoeducative Training was organized in 6 weekly meetings lasting two hours.
Each group was composed of 6 participants. The Training follows the cognitive-behavioural model.
In the first part of every meeting, theoretical aspects about stress and anxiety were explained, while
in the second part some relaxation techniques were taught. For the study, 43 people were recruited.
Anxiety was measured with Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the coping style with Coping Orientation
to Problems Experienced-New Italian Version (COPE-NIV). Only 4 patients did not conclude the Training
(drop-out 9.3%; confidence interval at 95%: 2.6%-22.1%). The feasibility of the study was confirmed.
The outcomes of BAI highlighted an anxiety decrease equal to 10 points in median. The secondary
outcome for Coping underlined a change in Social Support. The feasibility of the Training was confirmed
and a decrease in the anxiety was observed.
Keywords
Anxiety, Diagnostic tests, Psychoeducational Training, Coping, Relaxation.
