Emotional functioning to screen for psychological distress in breast and colorectal cancer patients prior to adjuvant treatment initiation

Introduction The objective was to analyze the usefulness of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC‐QLQ‐C30) EF subscale to detect emotional problems in patients with breast (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods A prospective, observational, cross‐sectional study was conducted. Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and EORTC‐QLQ‐C30. The following psychometric properties were calculated: accuracy, sensitivity, positive predictive value, specificity and negative predictive value. Results The sample analyzed included 445 patients: 202 with BC and 243 with CRC. In total, 129 BC patients (64%) and 104 CRC patients (43%) suffered psychological distress according to the BSI. The accuracy of EORTC‐QLQ‐C30 EF in detecting psychological distress was 77% and 82% in BC and CRC respectively. Specificity rates for BC and CRC were 81% and 82%, and sensitivity was 75% and 82% respectively. Positive predictive value was 87% and 77%, and negative predictive value was 65% and 86% in BC and CRC respectively. The mean AUC for BC was 0.83 and 0.88 for CRC. Conclusions The EORTC‐QLQ‐C30 EF is useful for rapid screening. The systematic application of this scale would allow patients with cancer and emotional problems to be easily identified in clinical practice.