Scores to Perceived Health Status

Distress related to cancer diagnoses and treatment is prevalent in oncology patients. Distress screening is not a common practice in oncology inpatient settings, although standards from the American College of Surgeon will require documented evidence of distress screening, assessment, intervention, and evaluation by 2015 for certification. Professionals are seeking the ideal distress instrument for use in their settings. In this study, a cross sectional design compared the level of distress and perceived health status from cancer inpatients (N=150) sampled in the first 48 hours of admission at a university-based, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer. This study utilized the distress thermometer and its 38-item problem list to identify the level and source of distress in oncology inpatients with a variety of cancer diagnoses. Distress was elevated (M=5.8, SD=2.7) which is described as moderate to high distress. Six of seven subscales of the distress thermometer problem list indicated significant results (p<0.03) with the exception of the practical subscale (p=0.23)