Factors That Affect Distress Faced by Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

Abstract Background In our hospital, adolescent and young adult(AYA) inpatients are supported by a multidisciplinary care team using the data of screening sheet (SS) specially developed for AYA patients. The SS is made of two components; Distress Thermometer (DT) and a Problem list (PL). We conducted this study to explore the factors associated with distress of AYA patients by analyzing the data of the SS. Methods The objects of this analysis were 67 SSs of the first hospitalization of each AYA inpatient aged 15-39 years between December 2017 and December 2018. We investigated the correlation between DT score and the number of checkmarks on the PL which consists of 39 items out of 5 categories; ’body’, ’disease and treatment’, ’family and support network’, ’emotional distress’ and ’anxiety about life’. We also exploratory compared what items are checked more frequently by highly distressed patients by dividing patients into two groups: high-distress (DT score 4 or more) and low-distress (DT score less than 4) group. Results Demographics of the patients were: sex(male/female):34/33; median age:31 years(range 17-39 years); cancer type(sarcoma/brain tumor/germ cell tumor/neuroblastoma/malignant lymphoma/others):29/15/9/3/2/9. The median score of DT was 3(0-10). A positive correlation was observed between DT score and the number of checkmarks for body (r=.55, p Conclusion Both physical and psychosocial matters affect more for distress in AYA patients with cancer rather than their treatment status or family and support network. Besides, several items affecting patients’ distress are suggested. Considering these data, we modified the SS and its validation study is ongoing.