Improvements in psychological distress in patients participating in a cooking programme following digestive cancer surgery: A retrospective, propensity score-matched pilot study

Introduction: This retrospective pilot study evaluated whether an Instrumental Activities of Daily Living intervention relieves psychological distress during hospital stays after digestive cancer surgery. Methods: In all, 24 patients were divided into two groups according to the experience of cooking programme during hospital stay ('control group', n = 11 and 'cooking group', n = 13) and both groups received usual postoperative care. The two groups were matched using propensity scores to reduce the potential for confounding factors. Outcome measures included psychological distress assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Basic Activities of Daily Living assessed by the Functional Independence Measure. Assessment time points were after surgical treatment and before discharge. Results: Propensity score matching generated nine pairs ('control group', n = 9 and 'cooking group', n = 9). The Functional Independence Measure improved in both groups (p = 0.008, r = 0.89) and the improvements in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were only found in the cooking group (p <= 0.049, r > 0.66). Conclusion: We found significant improvement in Basic Activities of Daily Livings in both groups and additional improvements in psychological distress in the cooking group. These observations suggest that Instrumental Activities of Daily Living-based intervention could improve mental health in patients with cancer in their early postoperative period.