Patient frustration with time spent on advanced ovarian and metastatic breast cancer care

While cancer treatment requires a significant time commitment, the objective time spent does not necessarily reflect a patient's perceived time burden. To understand which specific aspects of care are most burdensome, we sought to quantify frustration with time spent on various cancer care-related tasks among individuals receiving treatment for advanced ovarian or metastatic breast cancer.

Upon enrolling in a longitudinal study, 83 participants completed a baseline survey regarding frustration with time spent on cancer care tasks. Frustration was measured on a scale of 0 (not at all frustrating) to 10 (extremely frustrating) for cancer care-related activities including travel, waiting, appointments, and logistical tasks. Scores were compared by employment status, dependent status, and distance from the cancer clinic using Wilcoxon rank-sum and Kruskal-Wallis tests.

Median frustration scores for most tasks were low, but ranges were wide. Activities associated with the greatest frustration included number of trips to the cancer center, travel time per trip, wait times, and paperwork. Participants receiving disability benefits reported high frustration with nearly all tasks. Additionally, participants with dependents reported greater frustration with the number of trips, paperwork, time off work, and organizing dependent care. Participants living 30+ miles from the cancer center reported more frustration with travel time per trip and arranging transportation.

Time-related frustrations in cancer care are not uniform and more heavily impact participants who are on disability, have dependents, or experience geographic barriers. Individualized care coordination and optimized systemic workflows may minimize care-related time burden for these vulnerable populations.