Background: Psychosocial care is an important and integral part of holistic cancer care. However, there is a dearth of information around the topic of psychosocial well-being and care in southeast Asia. This study examined and describes the psychosocial well-being and its associated factors among terminal cancer patients in Southeast Asia, and explore support services received.
Method: This cross-sectional, multi-country study recruited participants receiving oncology care (N=1,198) in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Participants were adults diagnosed with stage IV metastatic solid cancer who completed self-reported surveys that included demographic information and the FACT-G quality of life instrument and depression screeners (either HADS-D or CES-D10).
Results: The overall Emotional and Social well-being scores were 17.2 (SD= 5.3) and 20.6 (SD= 4.5) respectively, with significant variation in mean scores across study sites. Greater symptom burden and financial difficulties were associated with both poorer emotional = -0.34 (95% CI: -0.39, -0.29), -0.36 (-0.53, -0.20) and social well-being -0.13 (-0.17, -0.08), -0.44 (-0.62 to -0.27), respectively. 21% of respondents who completed screeners met the threshold scores for depression. A small minority (3%) of patients received support services, while 42% indicated they were open to a referral.
Conclusions: There is room for improving access to oncology psychosocial support services in the Southeast Asian region. Efforts to screen for and identify those at risk for psychosocial distress and development of psychosocial support services are warranted.