Abstract
Introduction
Psychosocial distress screening of cancer patients is an American College of Surgeons
Commission on Cancer mandate for accredited cancer programs. We evaluated psychosocial
distress in breast cancer patients to characterize risk factors for high distress
scores at a safety net hospital.
Materials and Methods
The psychosocial distress screening form includes a list of potential issues and a
distress score scaled from 1 through 10. Psychosocial distress screening results were
retrospectively analyzed, along with patient demographics and clinical data. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel
test was applied to identify predictors for high distress scores, which were defined
as a score of 5 and greater.
Results
775 distress screens were completed by 171 breast cancer patients. High distress scores
were reported in 21.3%. Patients who had no evidence of disease at time of screening
were less likely to report a high distress score compared to those who were newly
diagnosed or in active treatment (odds ratio 0.51, 95% CI, 0.38-0.68, P< .0001). Patients with high distress scores were more likely to report concerns with
insurance (29.1% vs. 7.6%, P< .0001), transportation (16.4% vs. 4.6%, P< .0001), housing (15.2% vs 2.1%, P< .0001), sadness/depression (63.6% vs. 14.1, P< .0001), and physical issues (89.1% vs. 52.8%, P< .0001).
Conclusion
Status of cancer at time of screening, particularly newly diagnosed cancer and active
treatment of cancer were associated with high distress scores in this patient group.
While there should be an emphasis to ensure patients with these risk factors receive
psychosocial distress screening, routine periodic screening for all patients should
continue to be implemented to ensure quality cancer care.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 02, 2021
Accepted:
June 25,
2021
Received in revised form:
May 27,
2021
Received:
February 27,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
