The Psychiatry Division was established in July 1996. It was created to manage and alleviate the emotional distress of cancer patients, their families, and the oncology staff as well as to study the influence of psychosocial issues on the quality of life and survival of cancer patients.
The Psychiatry Division comprises 1 staff psychiatrist, 2 adjunct psychiatrists, 2 staff clinical psychologists, and 1 senior resident. The main clinical activity of the Division involves psychiatric consultation to appropriately assess and deal with emotional distress and other psychiatric problems of cancer patients who are either referred by oncologists or visit the Division themselves. Consultation data are shown in the Table. Psychiatric diagnosis is based on the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition) criteria. Consultation data included the data of 26 individuals who were family members of cancer patients.
A conference with the Supportive Care Team is conducted every Wednesdays. On Thursdays, multicenter joint clinical teleconferences with 4 cancer center hospitals and 2 university hospitals are held.
As part of the regional palliative care project, the Comprehensive Support Center for Cancer Patients and Families was developed on August outside the hospital. A total of 384 people consulted the Center. Around 200 regional medical staffs have so far attended the network conference and palliative care link staff training program, which are held every 2 months. Moreover, 130 Kashiwa residents attended the annual open seminar for palliative care.
● N. Akizuki, A. Ogawa, Y. Uchitomi ●
| Psychiatric consultation data (n = 594; january–december, 2008) | ||
| N (%) | ||
| Age | Mean ± SD (median, range) (yr) | 61.3 ± 12.2 (18-94) |
| Gender | (male/female) | 342(57.6%)/252 (42.4%) |
| Inpatient/Outpatient | 418 (70.4%)/176 (29.6%) | |
| Cancer patient/Family member | 568(98.7%)/26(4.3%) | |
| Cancer site | Head and neck | 129 (21.7) |
| Lung | 114 (19.2) | |
| Breast | 50 (8.4) | |
| Stage | Recurrent or metastatic | 365 (61.4) |
| PS | 0/1,2/3,4 | 124 (20.9%)/295 (49.7%)/171 (28.8%) |
| Pain | Present | 309 (52.0) |
| Psychiatric diagnosis | ||
| Delirium | 143 (24.1) | |
| Adjustment disorders | 141 (23.7) | |
| Major depression | 96 (16.2) | |
| Others | 150 (24.3) | |
| No diagnosis | 69 (11.6) | |
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