46P The Huaxi Emotional-Distress Index: An instrument for screening distress in Chinese inpatients with lung cancer

We examined the criterion-related validation of the Huaxi Emotional-distress Index (HEI) for screening distress in patients with lung cancer. This study also focused on the cutoff score and the influence of factors of the level of distress using the Huaxi Emotional-distress Index (HEI) relative to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In the cross-sectional study, the HEI was tested against the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for its sensitivity and specificity in 364 newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer. Two hundred and thirty-three (64%) lung cancer patients experienced overall distress on the HADS, with 175 (48%) suffering from anxiety and 156 (43%) experiencing depression. HEI was significantly correlated with the HADS-total (T) (r = 0.86, p < 0.001), HADS-depression (D) (r = 0.82, p < 0.001), and HADS-anxiety (A) (r = 0.78, p < 0.001). A HEI cutoff score≥9 had best sensitivity (0.77) and specificity (0.87). In multiple logistic regression analysis, female [OR = 2.75, p < 0.01, 95% CI 1.59–6.38] and patients with ‘B symptoms’ [OR =3.61, p < 0.01, 95% CI 1.86–8.32] were more likely to have a distress score ≥9. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) findings provide initial support that HEI is efficacious for screening for distress in patients with lung cancer. Nearly two third of patients with lung cancer exceeded cutoff values for distress in our study.