Evaluation of the psychosocial needs of cancer survivors.

Abstract

207 Background: Even after enduring successful treatment of their cancer, the late physical and psychosocial effects of treatment often continue to haunt as many as 50% of survivors. Furthermore, the needs of cancer survivors differ from those undergoing active treatment. However, there is a lack of comprehensive assessment for providers caring for survivors. Therefore, there is a need for one tool to assess the physical and psychosocial needs as well as evaluate their severity when initially establishing care in general survivorship clinic. In this study, we determine the most commonly identified of these needs as well as the degree to which they impact overall health of this population. Methods: A retrospective chart review of 220 patient records from the past six years in General Survivorship Clinic using Moffitt Cancer Center’s EHR was performed. All patients (ages 18-85 years) diagnosed with cancer without evidence of current disease and who had complete Clinical Needs Assessment Tool for Cancer Survivors (CNAT-CS) were eligible for inclusion. The CNAT- CS is a questionnaire of 36 items on which survivors identify as “not a concern”, “is a concern but I am managing”, or “I need help”. Results: A majority (65.5%) was female and white (81.3%); African Americans made up 11.4%. The mean age was 57.6 (SD = 11.3). Subjects had survived a variety of types of cancer with more than half (57%) having breast cancer. Their mean distress score was 2.75 (SD = 2.86). Fear of recurrence was the concern most often identified (56%), followed by feeling of high stress (50%), sleep disturbances (49%) and memory/ attention difficulties (40%). Highest scores were found on items about fear of the cancer returning (Mean = 0.71; SD = .55), information needed for follow-up care (mean = .64; SD = .59), stress in my life (mean = .60; SD = .65) and trouble with my memory/attention (mean = 0.52; SD = .69). Conclusions: These results indicate a relatively low mean distress score from the distress thermometer. Areas identified most frequently as a concern also tended to be the areas with the highest mean scores. Although almost 20% of survivors were in minority groups, ethnic minorities were underrepresented in this sample. Thus, future studies should focus on increasing the representativeness of the sample.