Professor Emily Banks gives this lecture ‘Is psychological distress in people living with cancer related to the diagnosis, treatment or their level of disability?’ at The Australian National University on 18 November 2010.

It is widely accepted that people living with a diagnosis of cancer experience higher levels of psychological distress than the general population. However, cancer is a heterogeneous condition and recent evidence suggests that, although high levels of psychological distress are seen at the time of diagnosis and treatment and with advanced disease, long term survivors may have similar rates of anxiety and depression to the general population. This raises the question of what influences psychological distress in people living with cancer- the diagnosis, the treatment or their level of health-related disability?

This lecture will discuss the results from a recent analysis of data from 89,000 men and women aged 45 and over in New South Wales (NSW) participating in the ’45 and Up Study’. The study examined the relationship between psychological distress, health-related disability and cancer diagnosis.