New study confirms importance of body image during chemotherapy

The study, published in the April 2016 issue of the medical journal Anticancer Research, builds upon the successful transition of the Derriford Appearance Scale across various languages and cultures in both its longer (DAS59) and shorter (DAS24) versions. The Derriford Appearance Scale represents an important tool, providing surgeons and psychologists with a proven method that gains insight into the levels of distress patients and clients are encountering, thus guiding the direction of the patients treatment plan.

"The Derriford Appearance Scale has enabled clinicians and researchers to tap into distress and dysfunction related to appearance concerns with confidence of a valid and reliable scale," said Timothy Moss, an associate professor of Heath Psychology at the University of the West of England and one of the project coordinators for the Derriford Appearance Scale. "This Italian version has enabled those working with Italian speakers to make a quick and robust psychological assessment."

The importance of body image during treatment of cancer, breast cancer patients, cannot be understated. Breast cancer has been associated with appearance concerns and issues of appearance identity, as well as satisfaction with treatment and the levels of distress the patient may be experiencing. Experts in clinical practice have described the need for an accurate scale that can determine a given patient's distress. There have been many measurement tools that have sought to solve this problem, but very few have created valid assessments with demonstrated reliability.

Andrea Chirico, the psychologist responsible for the protocol stated, "I can feel how a simple instrument like the Derriford Appearance Scale 24 can become an important step in the gold standard of treatment for breast cancer. The most emotional part of all of this experience was also being in contact with these patients and feeling all of their emotions and strength at same time."

Experts have expressed the need for a 'gold standard' when measuring a patient's distress towards their appearance. There has also been a lack of emphasis on patient-based studies that both discriminate amongst individuals with different levels of distress and are user friendly for patients and clinicians. The Derriford Appearance Scale is notable for meeting these criteria and is widely used because of this.