Comment On: “Impact of Spousal Mental Illness on Healthcare Utilization Among Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer”

Abstract

Mujtaba Khalil and colleagues published their study “Impact of Spousal Mental Illness on Healthcare Utilization Among Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer” in the Journal of Surgical Oncology provides important insights into the impact of spousal mental illness on healthcare utilization and expenditure for patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Although the study is innovative, there are limitations such as sample representativeness and underestimation of mental health diagnosis. It is recommended that future studies expand the sample size, combine clinical and administrative data to improve diagnostic accuracy, conduct long‐term follow‐up studies, conduct intervention studies, and explore solutions at the policy level to more fully understand and address the impact of spousal mental illness on patients' medical utilization and expenditure.