Page 73 - JCBP-3-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Evaluation of biopsychosocial factors

The evaluation of oncologic patients observed in the pain Conflict of interest
clinic and selected for this study revealed the significance
of marital status and self-sufficiency in the prevalence of The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
psychological distress, particularly anxiety and depression. Author contributions
Strong correlations were observed between some results
obtained from SF-36 and HADS, with all dimensions Conceptualization: Carla Retroz-Marques
of SF-36 and BPI showing worse outcomes in non- Formal analysis: Carla Retroz-Marques
autonomous patients. In addition, significant collinearity Investigation: Carla Retroz-Marques
between HADS and BPI was found, with the affective and Methodology: Carla Retroz-Marques
active subdimensions of BPI strongly correlating with Visualization: Carla Retroz-Marques
symptoms of anxiety and depression. Writing – original draft: Carla Retroz-Marques, Inês
Retroz-Marques
In cancer patients, pain is a predominant symptom Writing – review & editing: Inês Retroz-Marques, Acílio
that strongly interferes with ADL, making comprehensive Marques
patient evaluation essential. Multidimensional questionnaires
are valuable tools for this assessment. Lack of self- Ethics approval and consent to participate
sufficiency in daily activities and inadequate home care
can exacerbate depression and anxiety. The statistical This article presents a multifactorial, prospective,
observational, and cross-sectional study, following
significance of depression and anxiety associations STROBE guidelines [27] and approved by the Ethics
with mortality in cancer patients suggests that higher Committees of both Coimbra Hospital and the University
mortality rates correlate with more prevalent symptoms of Coimbra, Portugal (Approval Number: Ref.n.CES-0222).
of these conditions.
All the patients voluntarily signed the written informed
Cancer treatment must be highly individualized. From consent form, and patients with no physical capacities to
the first pain clinic consultation, clinicians should not only sign the form, oral consent was taken from them.
identify global symptoms but also initiate multimodal
therapy to improve sleep, anxiety, and depression, while Consent for publication
reducing reliance on analgesics for chronic pain. The study participants gave consent for the collection
Homecare and social support should not be overlooked. and publication of their data. All paticipants were fully
Healthcare providers must adopt a proactive approach, informed about the purpose of the study.
integrating social services into care plans and emphasizing
the importance of the family support. Availability of data

Given the collinearity among questionnaires, the Data used in this work are available from the corresponding
cost–benefit ratio of assessment tools must be author upon reasonable request.
carefully considered, accounting for patients’ clinical References
conditions, limited consultation time, and the physical
and emotional burdens on healthcare professionals. 1. Strang P, Qvarner H. Cancer-related pain and its influence
Further research is needed to explore additional aspects on quality of life. Anticancer Res. 1990;10:109-112.
of marital status to minimize biases, and refine the 2. Van Den Beuken-Van Everdingen MHJ, Hochstenbach LMJ,
selection of assessment tools, reducing redundancy in Joosten EAJ, Tjan-Heijnen VCG, Janssen DJA. Update
the information collected. on prevalence of pain in patients with cancer: Systematic
review and meta-analysis. J Pain Symptom Manage.
Acknowledgments 2016;51:1070-1090.e9.

The authors acknowledge Dr. Isabel Marques de Sá for doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.12.340
the linguistic revision of the text, and Dr. Paulo Roberto 3. Snijders RAH, Brom L, Theunissen M, van den Beuken-van
Ferreira, Professor Francisco Caramelo, and Dr. Marisa Everdingen MHJ. Update on prevalence of pain in patients
Loureiro for their contributions to the statistical aspects of with cancer 2022: A systematic literature review and meta-
the original work, as well as the voluntary collaboration of analysis. Cancers (Basel). 2023;15:591.
all patients and nurse staff. doi: 10.3390/cancers15030591

Funding 4. Cruz M, Pinho S, Castro-Lopes JM, Sampaio R. Patients and
healthcare professionals perspectives on creating a chronic
None. pain support line in Portugal: A qualitative study protocol.

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 67 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.4097