Effectiveness of brief psychosocial support for patients with cancer and their relatives: a quasi-experimental evaluation of cancer counselling centres

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of brief psychosocial support for patients with cancer and their relatives regarding their mental health. Design Quasi-experimental controlled trial with measurements at three time points (baseline, after 2 weeks and after 12 weeks). Setting The intervention group (IG) was recruited at two cancer counselling centres in Germany. The control group (CG) included patients with cancer or relatives who did not seek support. Participants In total, n=885 participants were recruited and n=459 were eligible for the analysis (IG, n=264; CG, n=195). Intervention One to two psychosocial support sessions (approximately hour) provided by a psycho-oncologist or social worker. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was distress. The secondary outcomes were anxiety and depressive symptoms, well-being, cancer-specific and generic quality of life (QoL), self-efficacy and fatigue. Results The linear mixed model analysis showed significant differences between IG and CG at follow-up for distress (d=0.36), p=0.001), depressive (d=0.22), p=0.005) and anxiety symptoms (d=0.22), p=0.003), well-being (d=0.26, p=0.002), QoL (QoL mental; d=0.26, p=0.003), self-efficacy (d=0.21, p=0.011) and QoL (global; d=0.27, p=0.009). The changes were not significant for QoL (physical; d=0.04, p=0.618), cancer-specific QoL (symptoms; d=0.13, p=0.093), cancer-specific QoL (functional; d=0.08, p=0.274) and fatigue (d=0.04, p=0.643). Conclusion The results suggest that brief psychosocial support is associated with the improvement of mental health of patients with cancer and their relatives after 3months. Trial registration number DRKS00015516.