Clinical assessment of depression in terminally ill cancer patients: A practical guide

Depression is commonly experienced by cancer patients at the end of life. The identification of patients suffering from depression is essential to provide clinicians with an opportunity to relieve considerable suffering. However, the assessment of depressive symptoms is complex and often challenging...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palliative & supportive care 2005-12, Vol.3 (4), p.319-324
Main Authors: PESSIN, HAYLEY, OLDEN, MEGAN, JACOBSON, COLLEEN, KOSINSKI, ANNE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer
Children & youth
Depressive Disorder - diagnosis
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Humans
Illnesses
Interview, Psychological
Mental depression
Mental health
Neoplasms - psychology
Palliative care
Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Psychology
Psychometrics
REVIEW ARTICLES
Social research
Terminal Care - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Depression is commonly experienced by cancer patients at the end of life. The identification of patients suffering from depression is essential to provide clinicians with an opportunity to relieve considerable suffering. However, the assessment of depressive symptoms is complex and often challenging in a terminally ill cancer population. This article offers practical guidelines to assist clinicians with the diagnosis of depression, reviews the defining symptoms of depression and their unique presentation in patients at the end of life, suggests modifications of the standard diagnostic interview, and provides examples of specific assessment questions to target depressive symptoms at the end of life.
ISSN:1478-9515
1478-9523
DOI:10.1017/S1478951505050480