Depression and Anxiety in Patients With Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

ObjectivesDepression and anxiety persist in cancer patients, creating an additional burden during treatment and making it more challenging in terms of management and control. Studies on the prevalence of depression and anxiety among cancer patients in the Middle East are limited and include many limitations such as their small sample sizes and restriction to a specific type of cancer in specific clinical settings. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and risk factors of depression and anxiety among cancer patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings.Materials and MethodsA total of 1,011 patients (399 inpatients and 612 outpatients) formed the study sample. Patients’ psychological status was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. The prevalence rate of depressive and anxious symptomatology was estimated by dividing the number of patients who exceeded the borderline score: 10 or more for each subscale of the HADS scale, 15 or more for the GAD-7 scale, and 15 or more in the PHQ-9 by the total number of the patients. Risk factors were identified using logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of depressive and anxious symptomatology among all patients was 23.4% and 19.1–19.9%, respectively. Depressive symptomatology was more prevalent across patients who were hospitalized (37.1%) compared with patients in the outpatient setting (14.5%) (p < 0.001). Similarly, anxious symptomatology was more prevalent in the inpatient setting (p < 0.001). In the inpatient setting, depressive symptomatology was more prevalent among patients with bladder cancer, while severe anxious symptomatology was more prevalent across patients with lung cancer. In the outpatient setting, depressive and anxious symptomatology was more prevalent among breast and prostate cancer patients, respectively. Despite that, around 42.7% and 24.8% of the patients, respectively, reported that they feel anxious and depressed, and only 15.5% of them were using medications to manage their conditions.ConclusionOur study findings demonstrated a higher prevalence of depressive and anxious symptomatology in the inpatient setting and advanced disease stages. In addition, the underutilization of antidepressant therapy was observed. There is a need to consider mental disorders as part of the treatment protocol for cancer patients. Enhanced clinical monitoring and treatment of depression and anxiety of cancer patients are required.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms and their determinant factors among patients with cancer in southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

“…44 On the other hand, our finding is higher than studies by Naser et al, in Jordan (23.4%). 45 This disparity might be attributed to differences in the study populations in terms of cancer types, screening tools used, or other sociodemographic variations and severity of depression taken into account.…”

Halalopathy: Revival of Miraculous Cure and Creation of Favourable Circumstances for Cancer Therapy

“…As a result, the immune system is distracted and goes into fright/flight mode. If this mode is temporary, it is manageable, however, if it remains permanent, the patient who started with one disease, cancer, will have a total of three diseases upon hearing the news: anxiety, depression, and cancer [26][27][28]. When chemotherapy is administered while the immune system is in distraction mode, the therapeutic outcome is limited to the therapeutic effect of the chemotherapy or other therapeutic options, while other important effects related to potential energy sources are either dispersed or suppressed.…”

Prevalence and correlates of major depressive disorders among patients with cancer at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi

“…The inclusion criteria were: (a) patients aged 18 years and above with a histologically con rmed cancer diagnosis and patients who had no apparent cognitive de cit. Patients were excluded if they were unable to participate in this study due to physical or emotional distress [15]. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection.…”

“…In Babol, Iran, depression was seen among 21.3% of the cancer patients [11]. A similar study at King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan had reported depression prevalence of 23% using the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) [15]. While in Pakistan, using the Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS) the prevalence was 48.9% [8].…”

“…Another study in Northwest Ethiopia had reported a depression prevalence of 71% among cancer patients attending oncology services [16]. Generally, in most settings, the prevalence of depressive disorders were high among patients with cancer ranging from 3-58% [15,17].…”