Postoperative distress and influencing factors in patients with pancreatobiliary cancer

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to investigate the distress levels using a distress thermometer (DT) and the factors associated with distress in postoperative patients with pancreatobiliary cancer. Methods This study retrospectively investigated 155 patients who underwent surgery for pancreatobiliary cancer between December 1, 2019 and September 30, 2021. DT and problem list were used to measure the distress. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results Among the 155 patients, 16.8% were in the mild-distress group (n = 26) and 83.2% were in the moderate-to-severe distress group (n = 129). The average DT score was 6.21; the average score for the mild-distress group was 2.46 and that for the moderate-to-severe distress group was 6.97. There were more patients in the moderate-to-severe distress group than in the mild-distress group who responded that they had problems of “sadness” (χ2 = 4.538, p < 0.05), “indigestion” (χ2 = 10.128, p < 0.001), “eating” (χ2 = 6.147, p < 0.013), and “getting around” (χ2 = 4.275, p < 0.039). The risk of severe distress was assessed in all patients. Occupation status (odds ratio [OR] = 0.342, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.133–0.879, p = 0.026) and indigestion (OR = 5.897, 95% CI = 1.647–21.111, p = 0.006) were independent risk factors for the presence of severe distress. Conclusion Patients with pancreatobiliary cancer demonstrated elevated levels of psychological distress. This should alert healthcare providers to be vigilant when evaluating patients for distress and providing appropriate referrals. Patients with pancreatobiliary cancer who are unemployed or have indigestion should be targeted for distress screening and management.