Psychological Distress Associated With Cancer Screening in Adults: A Systematic Review of Randomized Control Trials and Observational Studies

Background/Purpose: Research has shown that undergoing cancer screening may cause distress. Currently, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force cancer-screening guidelines are written in consideration of potential stress during cancer screening. However there is limited research and there has not been a comprehensive systematic examinination of levels of distress within or across different types of cancer screenings. The purpose of this review is to examine to what extent distress is a potential barrier to adherence to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations on cancer screenings.

Methods: A systematic review of English articles was done through academic search engines Ovid MEDLINE (1946 to present) and PsychINFO. The review considered the levels of psychological distress in different types of screening from randomized controlled trials and observational studies in the United States among individuals over 18. Only studies with distress measured two weeks before or within one month after cancer screening were included. As of present, 140 studies have been extracted and are being summarized following a systematic scheme.

Findings: 5,167 articles were initially found using the databases. Using a systematic coding scheme of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 2,652 studies were removed based on title and 2,143 were removed based on abstract. Currently 140 articles are under final review to determine their eligibility for data extraction.

Implications: Identifying levels of distress across various cancer screening procedures and tumors can inform policy around cancer screening recommendations.