Scan-associated Distress May Be Persistent for Patients With NSCLC

Scan-associated distress, which is commonly experienced by patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), may impair quality of life, according to a study published in the journal Lung Cancer.¹

Researchers identified risk factors for scan-associated distress among patients with NSCLC, and assessed the impact of this distress on quality of life.

Investigators surveyed 103 patients with recurrent/metastatic NSCLC treated at an academic medical center. Clinical and demographic data were obtained from patient chart records and self-reports.

A modified version of the Impact of Event Scale 6 (IES-6) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Lung (FACT-L) were used to assess scan-associated distress and quality of life, respectively.

Among the respondents, 72.8% discussed a recent scan at the study visit and 83% reported some scan-associated distress.

Scan-associated distress was associated with impaired quality of life (P = .004), with each unit increase in the IES-6 score corresponding to about a 1-unit reduction in FACT-L score.

Scan-associated distress was not, however, associated with time since diagnosis, whether the patient had a recent scan, or progressive disease.                           

Reference

1. Bauml JM, Troxel A, Epperson CN, et al. Scan-associated distress in lung cancer: Quantifying the impact of “scanxiety.” Lung Cancer. 2016 Aug 16. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2016.08.002 [Epub ahead of print]