{ "abstract": "Introduction: Cancer care is burdensome, but patient experience with time and administrative burdens is variable. Our objective was to assess the association between daily administrative tasks, time spent, and reported burden and identify demographic and clinical predictors.\n\nMethods: Participants (n = 122) from two longitudinal studies of individuals receiving cancer treatment utilized a mobile application (Daynamica) to track time spent on cancer care tasks over 28 days. Participants reported distress levels (NCCN Distress Thermometer) and time spent on three administrative tasks daily: scheduling appointments, managing medical bills/claims, and arranging support/transportation. Relationships between distress and tasks were assessed using generalized linear mixed models.\n\nResults: Most participants (91.8%) performed at least one administrative task during the study. Participants were more likely to report clinically significant distress (score 4+) on days involving administrative tasks (scheduling [OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.40–2.64], managing bills [OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.34–3.29], or arranging support [OR = 3.56, 95% CI: 2.19–5.79]) compared to days without these tasks. While the median time spent was low (14 min per week; Q1–Q3: 3–39), the top quartile spent an average of 83 min per week on these tasks. Lack of reliable transportation was the only factor significantly associated with increased time spent on administrative tasks (median 57 vs. 10 min/week, p = 0.01); no other demographic or clinical factors were associated with higher workload.\n\nConclusion: Administrative burden is a distinct psychological stressor for individuals with cancer, regardless of the actual time required for administrative tasks. Interventions should focus on streamlining insurance, care coordination, and administrative processes to reduce patient distress.\n\nTrial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05708703, NCT06322992", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Division of Health Policy and Management University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Masonic Cancer Center University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA", "Division of Environmental Health Sciences University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Daynamica Inc. Chanhassen Minnesota USA", "Division of Biostatistics and Health Data Science University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Department of Statistics Grinnell College Grinnell Iowa USA", "Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Humphrey School of Public Affairs University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA", "Division of Gynecologic Oncology O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham Alabama USA", "Divisions of Hematology & Oncology and Gerontology, Geriatrics, & Palliative Care O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham Alabama USA" ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 14, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Sarah J. Boyle" }, { "affs": [ 1, 2 ], "name": "Helen M. Parsons", "orcid": "0000-0003-3822-9858" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Michael Anne Kyle" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Patricia Jewett", "orcid": "0000-0001-5313-0106" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Guang Yang" }, { "affs": [ 6, 7 ], "name": "Zuofu Huang" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Arjun Gupta" }, { "affs": [ 0, 2 ], "name": "Deanna Teoh" }, { "affs": [ 5, 9 ], "name": "Yingling Fan", "orcid": "0000-0003-0500-4804" }, { "affs": [ 2, 8 ], "name": "Anne Blaes", "orcid": "0000-0002-5433-4810" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Rebecca Arend", "orcid": "0000-0003-2108-3426" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Gabrielle B. Rocque", "orcid": "0000-0003-4188-9785" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Julian Wolfson", "orcid": "0000-0002-2032-0875" }, { "affs": [ 0, 2 ], "name": "Rachel I. Vogel", "orcid": "0000-0003-0149-8464" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fcf83wf16qekn.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1002/cam4.72416", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13696993/", "id": "fcf83wf16qekn", "issns": [ "2045-7634" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.72416", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Research Article" ], [ "lcc", "RC254-282" ], [ "openalex", "2730|Cancer survivorship and care" ] ], "openalex": "W7223692888", "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13696993?pdf=render", "pmcid": "PMC13696993", "pmid": "42928651", "published": "2026-10-25", "publisher": "Wiley", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fcf83wf16qekn.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:15Z", "native_id": "PMC13696993", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.72416" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:18Z", "native_id": "MED:42928651", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928651" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:47:33Z", "native_id": "c3b64bbd7ee54c35b830d417d37dde9b", "source": "doaj", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.72416" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "openalex:2730|Cancer survivorship and care", "subfield": "oncology" } ], "title": "Administrative Workload and Associated Distress in Individuals Undergoing Cancer Therapy", "title_text": "Administrative Workload and Associated Distress in Individuals Undergoing Cancer Therapy", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:47:33Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fcf83wf16qekn", "venue": "Cancer Medicine", "versions": [] }