Financial worry in people with cancer: Relationship to employment and outcomes

Background People with cancer experience financial hardship. Most previous research has focused on material financial burden rather than financial worry. This study investigated employment predictors of financial worry and examined outcomes potentially affected by financial worry. Methods Data from the 2018 National Health Interview Study was used and limited to people diagnosed with cancer and having complete data on relevant variables (n = 2049). Preliminary analyses indicated three dimensions of financial worry: healthcare; lifestyle; and basic needs. Outcomes included cost‐related nonadherence, and presence of depressive symptoms and anxiety. Multivariable regressions examined the association of financial worry with cost‐related nonadherence and mental health and employment characteristics (paid hourly; sick leave; employer size) with financial worry while controlling for demographics. Results Mean age was 68.10 years (range: 20–85), and most had skin (33.6%), prostate (12.5%) or breast (21.4%) cancer. Hourly pay predicted more financial worry about affording healthcare (p