Psychological distress and quality of life following positive fecal occult blood testing in colorectal cancer screening
Menée aux Pays-Bas par questionnaire auprès de 1 066 participants âgés de 55 à 75 ans, cette étude de cohorte prospective analyse leur détresse psychologique et leur qualité de vie après la notification d’un résultat positif au test de dépistage du cancer colorectal (test de recherche de sang occulte dans les selles puis coloscopie)
Résumé en anglais
Objective : This study aimed to assess psychological functioning, quality of life, and regret about screening after a positive FIT and subsequent colonoscopy, and to evaluate changes over time. Methods :This is a prospective cohort study. Individuals aged 55?75 with a positive Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) that were referred for colonoscopy between July 2017 and November 2018, were invited to complete questionnaires related to psychological distress and health?related quality of life at three pre?defined time points: before colonoscopy, after histopathology result notification, and after 6?months. Four questionnaires were used: the Psychological Consequences Questionnaire (PCQ), the 6?item Cancer Worry Scale (CWS), the Decision Regret Scale (DRS), and the 36?item Short?Form (SF?36). Results : A total of 1066 participants out of 2151 eligible individuals were included. Patients with cancer showed a significant increase in psychological dysfunction (P =?0.01) and cancer worry (P =?0.008) after colonoscopy result notification, and a decline to pre?colonoscopy measurements after six months. In the no?cancer groups, psychological dysfunction and cancer worry significantly decreased over time (P <?0.05) but there was no ongoing decline. After six months, 17% of participants with no cancer experienced high level of cancer worry (CWS???10). Yet, only 5% reported high level of regret about screening participation (DRS?>?25). A good global quality of life was reported in participants with no cancer. Conclusions : Some psychological distress remains up to six months after colonoscopy in participants who tested false?positive in the Dutch bowel cancer screening program.
