Psycho-Existential Symptom Assessment Scale (PeSAS) Screening in Palliative Care

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Psychology
• Clinical Screening

Background:

• Psycho-existential symptoms are prevalent in palliative care but often overlooked.
• Effective screening tools are needed to identify and address these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement the Psycho-existential Symptom Assessment Scale (PeSAS) for routine screening in Australian palliative care.
• To determine the prevalence of psycho-existential symptoms in this patient population.

Main Methods:

• A multi-site rolling implementation involving clinician training via workshops.
• Data collection on patient symptom prevalence using the PeSAS across six services.
• Descriptive statistics to analyze uptake and symptom prevalence.

Main Results:

• 216 clinicians trained, data from 1405 patients collected over one year.
• Significant increase in clinician confidence in assessing psycho-existential wellness.
• High prevalence of anxiety (41.1%), discouragement (37.6%), hopelessness (35.8%), and depression (30.3%).

Conclusions:

• Clinicians can be effectively trained to use the PeSAS for screening psycho-existential distress.
• The PeSAS is a valuable tool for recognizing these symptoms in palliative care.
• Implementation challenges included service ethos, clinician confidence, and electronic data entry.