Work- and school-related distress among patients with cancer: Single-site retrospective chart review.

To (1) describe the prevalence of work- or school-related distress among patients with cancer and (2) compare overall distress among those impacted at work or school to overall distress among those not impacted at work or school. Retrospective chart review. All patients visiting the study site March 2016-December 2020 who completed the NCCN Distress Thermometer and Problem List. Descriptive statistics examined work- or school-related distress across patient characteristics and compared mean Distress Thermometer scores between patients with and without work- or school-related distress. Among 1,760 unique patients, 7.5% reported work- or school-related distress at one or more visits. Rates were highest among patients seen for neurological (14.1%), skin (10.6%), and gastrointestinal (9.2%) cancers. Those reporting work- or school-related distress had higher overall distress scores (mean = 4.76; SD = 2.52) than others (mean = 3.37; SD = 2.92) (g=-0.482; t=-5.327, p < 0.001). Although the prevalence of work- or school-related distress was low in this sample, the magnitude of this distress emphasizes the importance of having effective resources available for patients with cancer who experience work- or school-related problems. More research is needed to understand how well distress screening processes identify and support patients with work- or school-related problems.