Distress screening in cancer survivorship.

Abstract

197 Background: Cancer survivors have physical, psychosocial, emotional and financial needs that vary in prevalence and may differ from needs of patients on active cancer treatment. Distress screening is mandated for cancer program accreditation and identifies, addresses and monitors the needs of patients. There is a paucity of data on the clinical application of distress screening among survivors. We used a validated distress screening tool to conduct a needs assessment of cancer survivors in the solid oncology clinic. Methods: The Cancer Support Source Distress Screening tool is an 18-item questionnaire given to patients on their 2nd and every 3 month medical oncology clinic visit to assess depression and distress. We merged patient survey data (patients completing ≥ 2) with the cancer registry to identify cancer survivors from July 2015 to October 2018. We performed bivariate and multivariate analysis evaluating change in depression and distress scores over time. Results: 92 patients were identified. The table indicates changes in depression and distress scores by cancer. Depression scores improved for most cancer types with an improvement in distress scores across all cancers. Emotional/mental health, communication, provider relationship, system of care, body image and social support were associated with significant changes in survivorship concern. We are completing a multivariate analysis controlling for sociodemographic factors to evaluate change in depression and distress scores across the survivorship trajectory. Conclusions: A distress screening survey may be a useful tool in assessing the unmet needs of cancer survivors. Identifying prevalent domains of survivorship issues can highlight areas of greatest perceived need and can guide quality improvement initiatives within a cancer program. [Table: see text]