Distress in soft‐tissue sarcoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumours patients—Results of a German multicentre observational study (PROSa)

Abstract

Objective

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are a group of rare malignant tumours with a high and heterogenous disease burden. As evidence is scarce, we analysed the prevalence of increased emotional distress and identified distress-associated factors in these patients. Methods

The PROSa-study (Burden and medical care of sarcoma) was conducted between 2017 and 2020 in 39 study centres. Cross-sectional data from adult STS and GIST patients were analysed. Distress was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). The relation of socioeconomic and clinical factors with distress was explored in adjusted logistic regression models. Results

Among 897 patients, 17% reported elevated anxiety and 19% reported depression. Unemployed patients (odds ratio [OR] 6.6; 95% CI 2.9–15.0), and those with a disability pension (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.9–5.0) were more likely to experience distress compared to employed patients. Also, patients with a disability pass had higher odds of increased distress than those without (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.7). Lowest distress was observed in patients 2 to <5 years and ≥5 years after diagnosis (comparison: <6 months) (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2–0.6) and (0.3; 95% CI 0.2–0.6). Patients with thoracic STS (vs. lower limbs) had twice the odds to experience distress (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.1–3.6). Distress was seen almost twice as often in patients with progressive disease (vs. complete remission) (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1–2.8). Conclusion

The prevalence of elevated distress in STS and GIST patients is high. In unemployed patients, in those with a disability pension and in newly diagnosed patients a noticeable increase was observed. Clinicians should be aware of these factors and consider the social aspects of the disease.