Prevalence and predictors of cancer patients’ unexpressed needs in the admission interview of inpatient rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE The admission interview in oncological inpatient rehabilitation might be a good opportunity to identify cancer patients' needs present after acute treatment. However, a relevant number of patients may not express their needs. In this study, we examined (1) the proportion of cancer patients with unexpressed needs, (2) topics of unexpressed needs and reasons for not expressing needs, (3) correlations of not expressing needs with several patient characteristics, and (4) predictors of not expressing needs. METHODS We enrolled 449 patients with breast, prostate, and colon cancer at beginning and end of inpatient rehabilitation. We obtained self-reports about unexpressed needs and health-related variables (quality of life, depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, and health literacy). We estimated frequencies and conducted correlation and ordinal logistic regression analyses. RESULTS A quarter of patients stated they had "rather not" or "not at all" expressed all relevant needs. Patients mostly omitted fear of cancer recurrence. Most frequent reasons for not expressing needs were being focused on physical consequences of cancer, concerns emerging only later, and not knowing about the possibility of talking about distress. Not expressing needs was associated with several health-related outcomes, e.g. emotional functioning, adjustment disorder, fear of progression, and health literacy. Depression measured at the beginning of rehabilitation showed only small correlations and is therefore not sufficient to identify patients with unexpressed needs. CONCLUSIONS A relevant proportion of cancer patients reported unexpressed needs in the admission interview. This was associated with decreased mental health. Therefore, it seems necessary to support patients in expressing needs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.