Anxiety and depression in patients with intracranial meningioma: a mixed methods analysis

Abstract

Background While diagnosis with a high-grade intracranial tumor is known to be associated with increased psychosocial burden, the burdens associated with meningioma are less well described. This study aimed to investigate the mental health burden in patients with meningiomas who have undergone surgical resection or serial observation, so as to identify and enhance awareness of gaps in care. Methods The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered to participants. Fisher’s Exact tests were performed to evaluate frequency distributions and t-tests were applied to compare postoperative and non-surgical patients’ HADS scores. Semi-structured interviews were completed on a subset of participants. Thematic analysis of interviews identified emerging themes. Results Thirty patients with intracranial meningiomas met inclusion criteria. The cohort’s mean age was 56.01 years and 66.67% were women (n = 20). Fourteen underwent surgery; sixteen were treated conservatively with observation. The average time since diagnosis of the sample was 37.6 months. Prevalence of mild to severe symptoms of anxiety was 28.6% amongst surgical management patients and 50% for active surveillance patients (p = 0.325). The prevalence of mild to severe symptoms of depression was 7.14% amongst surgical management patients and 6.25% for active surveillance patients (p = 0.533). Emerging themes from eight interviews reveal the influence of resilience, uncertainty and time, social support, interactions with medical experts, and difficulties during recovery on mental health. Conclusion The findings from the present study reveal that patients with meningiomas experience a significant mental health burden, illustrating the need for enhanced patient-centred care focusing on mental health.

Suicidal ideation and attempts in brain tumor patients and survivors: A systematic review

“… 1 Increased stress, anxiety, and depression have been identified as postcancer diagnosis sequelae, especially among patients with brain tumors. 2–4 Existing evidence has shown a trend toward increased suicidality in cancer patients compared to the general population, 5 , 6 particularly in patients with physical impairments and poor prognoses. 7 , 8 Suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal attempt (SA) are two manifestations of extreme psychological distress.…”

Functional State and Rehabilitation of Patients after Primary Brain Tumor Surgery for Malignant and Nonmalignant Tumors: A Prospective Observational Study

“…Our findings also suggest that, despite the favorable prognosis, the rehabilitation needs of patients with nonmalignant tumors are similar to those with malignant tumors. This mirrors the similar mental health burden in patients with nonmalignant and malignant tumors [64]; therefore, practitioners must be aware that "nonmalignant" is not equivalent to lesser physical and mental rehabilitation needs in the vulnerable brain tumor population.…”

Functional state and rehabilitation of patients after primary brain tumor surgery for malignant and non-malignant tumors: a prospective observational study

“…Our ndings also suggest that, despite the favorable prognosis, the rehabilitation needs of patients with non-malignant tumors are similar to those with malignant tumors. This mirrors the similar mental health burden in patients with benign and malignant tumors [57], and therefore practitioners must be aware that "non-malignant" is not equivalent to lesser physical and mental rehabilitation needs in the vulnerable brain tumor population.…”