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. 2024 Jul 1:31:100258.
doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2024.100258. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Time estimation is associated with the levels of distress in patients prior to starting radiotherapy

Kiril Zh Zhelev  1 , Nikolay V Conev  2 , Zahari I Zahariev  3 , Iglika S Mihaylova  4 , Ivan D Tonev  5 , Ivan Sht Donev  6
Affiliations

Time estimation is associated with the levels of distress in patients prior to starting radiotherapy

Kiril Zh Zhelev et al. Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Purpose or objective: The aim of this study was to explore the potential relationship between the time estimation and psychological distress in patients with solid tumors prior to starting radiotherapy.

Materials and methods: In this multicenter study were included a total of 344 patients with solid tumors (197 with and 147 without metastatic disease). The time estimation was assessed by evaluating each subjects prospective estimation of how fast 1 min passed compared to the actual time. The median value (35sec) of subjective perception of time was used to group cases into two categories for experience of time. We used the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer at the beginning of treatment to determine the levels of distress, where it measures distress on a scale from 0 to 10. Patients scoring 4 or above (73.5 %) were regarded as having high levels of distress.

Results: The time estimation distributions significantly changed according to the level of distress. ROC analysis revealed that at the optimal cut off value of time estimation, patients with low and high distress levels can be discriminated with an AUC = 0.80 (95 % CI: 0.75- 0.85, p < 0.001) and with a sensitivity of 77.8 % and specificity of 73.3 %. In a multivariate logistic regression model, fast time estimation was an independent predictor of high levels of distress (OR 0.136; 95 % CI, 0.072---0.256, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Time estimation is a novel potent indicator of high levels of distress in cancer patients prior starting of radiotherapy.

Keywords: Cancer; Distress; Radiotherapy; Time estimation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The Mann-Whitney U test was used to detect significant differences in the level of distress between the groups, and p < 0.05 (two-tailed) was considered to indicate significance. A bar graph depicting the level of distress in patients with slow and fast time estimations.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis in which time estimation was used to differentiate between patients with low and high levels of distress. The diagnostic accuracy of time estimation was determined by obtaining the largest possible area under the curve (AUC) in ROC analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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