Screening for psychological and physical distress in a cancer inpatient treatment setting: a pilot study

Abstract

Failure to screen for psychological and physical symptom distress has lead to under recognition of a population that may have higher levels of distress than their outpatient counterparts and could potentially lead to uneven access to biopsychosocial support. Results support the notion that routinely screening for psychological and physical distress should become a first step in the assessment of the biopsychosocial needs of people receiving inpatient treatment for cancer.