Interdisciplinary provider visits attenuate relationship between patient concerns and distress in older adults with cancer.

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between multidimensional patient concerns and anxiety and depression in a national sample of older adults with cancer (OACs ≥ 65 years) and the buffering effect of visiting providers across disciplines (e.g., oncology, allied health, primary care, mental health) on these relationships.

CancerSupportSource-Spanish: Development of a Distress Screening Measure for Spanish-Speaking Hispanic and Latino Individuals with Cancer.

CancerSupportSource (CSS), a distress screening and referral program, identifies unmet needs of people with cancer and links them to resources and support. We developed and validated a Spanish-language version (CSS-Spanish) to better serve Hispanic and Latino communities and promote health equity. The 25-item CSS-Spanish was created leveraging rigorous translation methods and cognitive interviews to ensure cultural relevance and topical breadth.

A randomized controlled trial of a distress screening, consultation, and targeted referral system for family caregivers in oncologic care.

Objective: Distress screening is standard practice among oncology patients, yet few routine distress screening programs exist for cancer caregivers. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of Cancer Support Source-Caregiver (CSS-CG, 33-item), an electronic distress screening and automated referral program with a consultation (S + C) to improve caregiver unmet needs, quality of life, anxiety, depression, and distress relative to Enhanced Usual Care (EUC; access to educational materials).

Method: 150 caregivers of patients with varying sites/stages of cancer were randomized to S + C or EUC and completed assessments at baseline, 3-months post-baseline, and 6-months post-baseline.

Financial toxicity among people with metastatic cancer: findings from the Cancer Experience Registry.

Purpose: This study describes financial toxicity (FT) reported by people with metastatic cancer, characteristics associated with FT, and associations between FT and compensatory strategies to offset costs.

Methods: Cancer Support Community's Cancer Experience Registry data was used to identify respondents with a solid tumor metastatic cancer who completed the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy COmprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (FACIT-COST) measure. Multivariable logistic regression analyses examined associations between respondent characteristics and FT, and FT and postponing medical visits, nonadherence to medications, and postponing supportive and/or psychosocial care.

HIV Support Source: Development of a Distress Screening Measure for Adults with HIV.

To provide an effective, multidimensional, and psychometrically valid measure to screen for distress among people with HIV, we developed and assessed the psychometric properties of HIV Support Source, a distress screening, referral, and support program designed to identify the unmet needs of adults with HIV and link them to desired resources and support. Development and testing were completed in three phases: (1) item generation and initial item pool testing (N = 375), (2) scale refinement via exploratory factor analysis (N = 220); external/internal item quality, and judging theoretical and practical implications of items, and (3) confirmatory validation (N = 150) including confirmatory factor analysis along with reliability and validity analyses to corroborate dimensionality and psychometric properties of the final measure. Nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses determined scoring thresholds for depression and anxiety risk subscales.

The interplay of financial toxicity, health care team communication, and psychosocial well-being among rural cancer patients and survivors.

Background: Financial toxicity contributes to psychosocial distress among cancer patients and survivors. Yet, contextual factors unique to rural settings affect patient experiences, and a deeper understanding is needed of the interplay between financial toxicity and health care team communication and its association with psychosocial well-being among rural oncology patients.

Purpose: We examined associations between financial toxicity and psychosocial well-being among rural cancer patients, exploring variability in these linkages by health care team communication.

Biomarker testing communication, familiarity, and informational needs among people living with breast, colorectal, and lung cancer.

Objectives: This study aims to characterize patient experiences with biomarker testing, including history of biomarker testing, related communication and education, self-perceived familiarity and informational needs.

Methods: 436 U.S.

Perceived COVID-19 pandemic impact and protective factors predicting patient-reported depression and anxiety in individuals living with cancer.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique, amplified threat to those living with a cancer diagnosis, but personal factors may play a role in how this affects well-being. This cross-sectional study (1) describes the impacts of COVID-19 on cancer patients' lives, and (2) explores the extent to which specific impacts of COVID-19 and noted protective factors, hope and resilience, predict two crucial patient-reported outcomes, depression and anxiety, after controlling for relevant sociodemographic and clinical factors.

Methods: 520 cancer patients and survivors in the U.

Pain and Nausea Intensity, Social Function, and Psychological Well-Being among Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Advances in diagnostics and therapeutics have improved prognosis for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Yet, treatment and disease burden-including experiences of pain and nausea-present practical and emotional challenges. To better support patients and enhance quality of life, deeper understanding of the pathways linking physical and psychological health is needed.

Valued Outcomes in the Cancer Experience (VOICE)™: Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of perceived control.

Objective: Enhancing cancer patients' sense of control can positively impact psychological well-being. We developed and assessed the psychometric properties of Valued Outcomes in the Cancer Experience (VOICE), a measure of patients' perceived control over key personal priorities within their cancer experience.

Methods: VOICE construction and testing were completed in three phases with separate participant samples: (1) item generation and initial item pool testing ( = 459), (2) scale refinement ( = 623), and (3) confirmatory validation ( = 515).

Patient-Reported Communication With Their Health Care Team About New Treatment Options for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) often requires consideration of multiple treatment options. Shared decision-making (SDM) is important, given the availability of increasingly novel therapies; however, patient-provider treatment conversations vary. We examined relationships between patient-provider discussions of new CLL treatment options and sociodemographic, clinical, and patient-provider communication variables among 187 CLL patients enrolled in Cancer Support Community's Cancer Experience Registry.

CancerSupportSource®-15+: development and evaluation of a short form of a distress screening program for cancer patients and survivors.

Purpose: CancerSupportSource® (CSS) is a distress screening program implemented at community-based organizations and hospitals nationwide. The 25-item CSS assesses distress across five domains, with capacity to screen for clinically significant depression and anxiety. This study examined psychometric properties of a shortened form to enhance screening opportunities when staff or patient burden considerations are significant.

Symptom Burden, Perceived Control, and Quality of Life Among Patients Living With Multiple Myeloma.

Background: New therapies for multiple myeloma (MM) have improved survival rates but often expose patients to heightened toxicities and prolonged treatment, leading to increasing complications and side effects. We evaluated the association between symptom burden, perceived control over illness, and quality of life (QoL) among a national sample of patients with MM.

Methods: For this observational, cross-sectional study, we used data from the Cancer Experience Registry research initiative to examine symptom- and functioning-related concerns among 289 patients with MM across the illness trajectory.

Unintentional weight loss, its associated burden, and perceived weight status in people with cancer.

Purpose: Unintentional weight loss (UWL) is a prevalent problem in people with cancer and is associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes. A gap exists in understanding whether and how perceived and/or weight status impacts experiences of UWL. Thus, we sought to examine subjective experiences of UWL in people with cancer, and whether perceived and/or actual weight status impacts these experiences.

CancerSupportSource®: validation of a revised multi-dimensional distress screening program for cancer patients and survivors.

Purpose: To facilitate access to and provision of psychosocial care to cancer patients in the community, the Cancer Support Community (CSC) developed CancerSupportSource® (CSS), an evidence-based psychosocial distress screening program. The current study examined the psychometric properties and multi-dimensionality of a revised 25-item version of CSS, and evaluated the scale's ability to identify individuals at risk for clinically significant levels of depression and anxiety.

Methods: CSS development and validation were completed in multiple phases.

Perspectives of Patients With Cancer on the Quality-Adjusted Life Year as a Measure of Value in Healthcare.

Objectives: Healthcare expenditures in the United States continue to grow; to control costs, there has been a shift away from volume-focused care to value-based care. The incorporation of patient perspectives in the development of value-based healthcare is critical, yet research addressing this issue is limited. This study explores awareness and understanding of patients with cancer about the quality-adjusted life year (QALY), as well as their perspectives regarding the use of the QALY to measure value in healthcare.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Distress Screening for Family Caregivers at a Cancer Surgery Center.

Objectives: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a validated electronic distress screening program for cancer caregivers.

Sample & Setting: 17 informal caregivers presenting with a patient with cancer to an ambulatory cancer surgery center.

Methods & Variables: Caregivers completed the CancerSupportSource®-Caregiver screening and a brief semistructured interview concerning the screening.

Perceptions of weight management counseling among gynecologic cancer survivors: opportunities for enhancing survivorship care.

Purpose: Oncology practice guidelines recommend incorporating weight management efforts throughout survivorship care; however, some oncologists raise concerns about implementing weight management counseling without damaging patient-provider relationships. This study explores cancer survivors' receptivity to weight management counseling and examines whether views of counseling effectiveness are associated with individual characteristics including health-related perceptions or psychological distress.

Methods: Patients presenting to a NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center gynecologic oncology ambulatory clinic were asked to complete a survey assessing health and weight history, health perceptions, psychological distress, provider preferences, and weight management counseling perceptions.

Agreement on diagnosis among patients, companions, and professionals after a dementia evaluation.

A diagnosis of dementia is challenging to deliver and to hear; yet, agreement on diagnosis is essential for effective treatment for dementia. We examined consensus on the results of an evaluation of dementia in 90 patients assessed at an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Diagnostic impressions were obtained from 5 sources: (1) the physician's chart; (2) the patient who was evaluated; (3) a companion present at the evaluation; (4) a diagnostic summary written by a nurse present during the evaluation; and (5) raters who watched a video of the diagnostic disclosure conversation.

Patient-centered communication during the disclosure of a dementia diagnosis.

This study examined physician use of patient-centered communication during disclosure of a dementia diagnosis. Fifty-four patients (mean age = 74.13) and companions (mean age = 65.