Distress: the 6th Vital Sign

At the CAPO 2009 Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, the CAPO membership unanimously endorsed the concept that Distress be named the 6th Vital Sign in Oncology. In routine medial practice vital signs are utilized by health professionals in order to assess functioning. The four vital signs which are standard in medical settings and which are an essential part of the patient’s case presentation are: Body Temperature, Pulse (or heart rate), Blood pressure, and Respiratory rate. Due to the impact and prevalence of pain, in 1999 Pain was endorsed as the 5th Vital Sign.

The impact and prevalence of distress (psychosocial, physical, and practical) on cancer patients, families and the community as a whole is well documented and is a primary concern of clinicians, scientists, educators, and the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology.

Distress as the 6th Vital Sign was first endorsed by the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control in 2004. “Distress, the 6th Vital Sign” has gained multiple professional and community based endorsements. Background on naming “Distress, the 6th Vital Sign” has been published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Psycho-Oncology, and Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, to name a few. Distress is now part of Accreditation Canada’s Standards in Cancer Care in Oncology (7.9; 2009).

CAPO believes that the Endorsement of “Distress, the 6th Vital Sign” will raise awareness of Distress as an essential component of the patient experience and will act as a call to action for care providers and the health care system as a whole.