Recognizing depression in cancer outpatients

Barbara Adkins, MSN, ARNP-BC, AOCNP,¹ Teresa Titus-Howard, MSW, MHA,² Vickie Massey, MD,¹ Nancy Washburn, MSN, APRN,³ Jackie Molinaro, BSN,¹ Brenda Lang, ARNP,¹ William L. Bruning, JD, MBA,² Sandy Simmons, ARNP,⁴ Patty Gerken, APRN,³ Valerie Sommer, APRN,⁵ Keely LaNoue, BSN,⁶ Becky Rogers, ARNP,⁷ and Beverly Wilson, APRN⁶

¹Kansas City Cancer Center-Southwest, Overland Park, KS, ²Mid-America Coalition on Health Care, Kansas City, MO, ³Kansas City Cancer Center-South, Kansas City, MO, ⁴Kansas City Cancer Center-West, Kansas City, MO, ⁵Kansas City Cancer Center-East, Lee’s Summit, MO, ⁶Kansas City Cancer Center-Central, Kansas City, MO, and ⁷Kansas City Cancer Center-North, Kansas City, MO

A year-long effort at Kansas City Cancer Center (KCCC) to educate oncology nurse practitioners in recognizing and managing depressive disorders and provide them with a simple test instrument for screening cancer outpatients resulted in a greater than twofold improvement in the recognition of depression and a nearly threefold increase in the rate at which patients who had lost interest in everyday activities were identified. Clinical depression was diagnosed in 16% of patients before the initiative and in 21% of patients afterward. The KCCC’s anti-depression initiative spurred implementation of a demonstration project that incorporates a comprehensive approach to treating mental health disorders in patients with cancer. Proper implementation will require changes in the practice management process that facilitate the diagnosis of clinical depression and initiation of its treatment in the community oncology setting.

Commun Oncol 2005;2:528–533 print e-mail full text 205 kb