NCCN Distress Thermometer
The NCCN Distress Thermometer is a 0-10 rating of distress over the past week, including today. This page is catalogue information for clinics. It is not a public test and not a psychiatric diagnosis.
Overview
What is the Distress Thermometer?
The Distress Thermometer is a brief self-report used in cancer services to see who may need psychosocial attention. The NCCN guideline treats a rating of 4 or more as moderate or severe distress for clinician review. It does not diagnose a mental disorder, predict survival, or assign care.
Development and clinical use
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network publishes the Distress Thermometer with its Problem List in the NCCN Distress Management guideline. Lirena presents NCCN Guidelines Version 1.2026, which opens with a definition of distress and keeps the 0-10 past-week rating, including today.
- Catalogue status
- Catalogue information
- Mode
- Patient self-report
- Typical use
- Detect who needs psychosocial attention
- Rating bands
- 4 or more is moderate or severe distress
- Source
- NCCN
- Clinical role
- Screening support
Administration
A focused client experience
Distress Thermometer is completed as a focused self-report and stored for clinician review. This public page does not collect answers or return a score.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
The illustration shows layout only. It does not reproduce Distress Thermometer item wording.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Published scoring conventions may exist in official materials. This public page does not independently verify scoring, cutoffs, or a production scoring rule. Use the official form and scoring instructions for the version you intend to use.
References
- NCCN Distress ThermometerNational Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Distress Thermometer and Problem List. NCCN Guidelines Version 1.2026, Distress Management (DIS-A).
- NCCN distress guidelineHolland JC, Andersen B, Breitbart WS, et al. Distress Management. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2010;8(4):448-485.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the Distress Thermometer
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Does a score of 4 diagnose psychiatric illness?
No. The NCCN guideline treats a rating of 4 or more as moderate or severe distress that a clinician should review. It is not a diagnosis.
Can I complete the Distress Thermometer here?
No. This page is educational catalogue information. It does not collect answers or return a score.
Should the problem list be used with it?
Yes, when the team needs to see what is driving the rating. The thermometer and the problem list are separate catalogue entries because they use different response formats.
Does Lirena decide who needs urgent care?
No. Returned forms stay with the responsible clinician. Lirena does not assign care or produce an AI risk score.
See who needs psychosocial attention, why, and whether they are improving.
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