Psychoonkologische Angebote - was wunschen uber 60-jahrige Krebspatienten?

OBJECTIVES: To determine the acceptance of psychooncological interventions and predictors of subjective needs in cancer patients over 60 years of age.

METHODS: We examined 292 in- and outpatients (51% female, 51.7% aged over 60 years) from the Interdisciplinary Cancer Center of the University Hospital of Münster with a questionnaire designed to assess their wish to participate in various psychooncological interventions (FIPA) and with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D).

RESULTS: 73.5 % of those over 60 years and 87.9 % of those under 60 years professed a wish for at least one specific psychooncological intervention. Higher age, lower levels of anxiety and cancer relapse were negative predictors of the readiness to attend psychooncological interventions (9 % variance explained). As to specific interventions, those aged 60 years or older showed lower acceptance only for relaxation techniques.

CONCLUSIONS: Readiness to attend psychooncological interventions was high with only marginal differences between the age groups. Because objective features of the patient and the disease resulted only in a low predictability of the subjective need for psychooncological interventions, routine screening of cancer patients seems an important issue.