Psychological Distress During Chemotherapy:Predictive Roles of Physical Symptom Burden and Optimism

Encountering the side-effects of chemotherapy over and above living with the diagnosis of cancer can be a doubly challenging experience for patients. This study explored the relationships among symptom burden (physical impairment & functional capacity), life orientation (optimism & pessimism), and psychological distress (depression & anxiety) in patients undergoing chemotherapy. One hundred and five patients seeking chemotherapy completed Rotterdam Symptom Checklist, Patient Health Questionnaire 9, Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7, and Life Orientation Test Revised. Regression analyses indicated that physical impairment and optimism were the significant predictors of depression, altogether explaining 31 % of variance. Anxiety was significantly predicted to the extent of 30% of variance by optimism, physical impairment, and gender. Therefore, assessing and intervening to boost patients' optimistic disposition is as essential as attending to their physical side-effects in the milieu of chemotherapy.