Background: Cancer occurs during one in 1000–5000 of the approximately 6 million yearly US pregnancies identified by the American Pregnancy Association. Although a newly diagnosed cancer is associated with substantial distress, little is known about cancer's emotional impact on women when diagnosed during pregnancy, and no studies have been conducted on the subject.Objective: The Cancer and Pregnancy Registry was developed by Elyce H. Cardonick MD, specialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, to examine the consequences of maternal cancer diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes, including the impact of in utero exposure to chemotherapy.Methods: Participants were asked to complete questionnaires, including measures of psychological distress, permitting the examination of variables associated with long‐term psychological distress in women following a cancer diagnosis in pregnancy.Results: Seventy‐four women completed the Brief Symptom Inventory‐18 and Impact of Event Scale on average 3.8 years (SD 2.5) following their cancer diagnosis. Potential variables related to distress included information on: sociodemographics, disease, pregnancy, birth, cancer treatment, and health status. Multiple regression analyses revealed that women were at higher risk of long‐term distress if they had not received fertility assistance, had been advised to terminate the pregnancy, had had a preterm baby, had had a cesarean delivery, had not produced sufficient milk to breastfeed, had been experiencing a recurrence, and/or had undergone surgery post‐pregnancy.Conclusion: Results are discussed in light of our current knowledge of the normal developmental phase of pregnancy and motherhood. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Objectives: No study systematically has investigated the supportive care needs of general head and neck cancer patients using validated measures. These needs include physical and daily living needs, health system and information needs, patient care and support needs, psychological needs, and sexuality needs. Identifying the unmet needs of head and neck cancer patients is a necessary first step to improving the care we provide to patients seen in our head and neck oncology clinics. It is recommended as the first step in intervention development in the Pan-Canadian Clinical Practice Guideline of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (see Howell, 2009). This study aimed to identify: (1) met and unmet supportive care needs of head and neck cancer patients, and (2) variability in needs according to demographics, disease variables, level of distress, and quality-of-life domains.Methods: Participants were recruited from the otolaryngology–head and neck surgery clinics of two university teaching hospitals. Self-administered questionnaires included sociodemographic and medical questions, as well as validated measures such as the Supportive Care Needs Survey–Short Form (SCNS-SF34), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General (FACT-G) and Head and Neck Module (FACT-H&N) (quality of life measures).Results: One hundred and twenty-seven patients participated in the survey. 68% of them experienced unmet needs, and 25% revealed a clinically significant distress level on the HADS. The highest unmet needs were psychological (7 of top 10 needs). A multiple linear regression indicated a higher level of overall unmet needs when patients were divorced, had a high level of anxiety (HADS subscale), were in poor physical condition, or had a diminished emotional quality of life (FACT-G subscales).Significance of results: The results of this study highlight the overwhelming presence of unmet psychological needs in head and neck cancer patients and underline the importance of implementing interventions to address these areas perceived by patients as important. In line with hospital resource allocation and cost-effectiveness, one may also contemplate screening patients for high levels of anxiety, as well as target patients who are divorced and present low levels of physical well-being, as these patients may have more overall needs to be met.

Background: Medical students often experience significant distress early-on in undergraduate training. Aims: We aimed to demonstrate the impact of a brief structured yoga intervention on medical students. Method: Fourteen first-year medical students participated in a 16-week yoga intervention pilot study. Students completed questionnaires at baseline, mid-intervention and end of the study. Results: The students reported improvements in overall health, perceived stress and depressive symptoms following the intervention. Conclusions: A yoga intervention may be effective in decreasing stress and improving general well-being in medical students.