Associations of practical, emotional, and physical problems with psychosocial distress among cancer patients

Objective: To better understand the relationship between cancer patient distress and psychosocial variables, including problem types, to improve ability to predict and address psychosocial need. Methods: A variation of National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Distress Thermometer (DT) was administered and collected at four sites from an Integrated Network Cancer Program (INCP). The presence of moderate/severe distress was examined relative to patient demographics, disease characteristics, and psychosocial problems. Results: Distress scores were positively correlated with all problem counts. For every count increase of practical, emotional, and physical problems, and for every cancer stage increase the odds of reporting a moderate/severe distress score was significantly higher. Relative to patients with one cancer treatment type, patients with three cancer treatment types were significantly less likely to report moderate/severe distress. Conclusion: Problem count could be a useful indicator for clinical intervention. Stage and number of treatment types may also be considered clinically relevant distress predictors.