Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2011
Demoralization and depression in patients with advanced cancer: validation of the German version of the demoralization scale.
The concept of demoralization has been widely used to describe states of existential distress and a self-perceived incapacity to deal effectively with a specific stressful situation. ⋯ Results provide further evidence that the DS is a valid and reliable instrument of high clinical relevance in patients with advanced cancer.
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Anxiety in terminal cancer is linked to diminished quality of life, yet overall it is poorly understood with regard to prevalence and relationship to other aspects of psychological distress. ⋯ Severity of anxiety symptoms did not differ between the study sites, suggesting that anxiety may differ from depression and desire for hastened death in the course that it takes over the duration of terminal cancer.