Depressive disorders in an out­patient oncology setting: prevalence, assessment, and management

Abstract

Objective. To assess the prevalence of depressive disorders among cancer patients attending the out‐patient oncology clinic of a major hospital, and to initiate the development of a valid and practical psychological morbidity screening instrument suitable for local conditions. Design. Survey utilising self‐report screening scales and full psychiatric interviews. Setting. Radiotherapy department, Groote Schuur Hospital. Patients. Breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and lymphoma patients attending out‐patient oncology clinics. Results. A total of 456 patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Of that sample, 245 also completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and 100 were subjected to a structured psychiatric interview. The prevalence of depression in this population is approximately 14%, which is lower than estimates reported elsewhere. Only 14% of the interviewed depressed cases had been identified and treated by the existing health care system, highlighting the need for suitable screening tools. Appropriate screening tools and management strategies for this population are discussed. Conclusion. This study highlighted the need for routine screening for depression and the implementation of cost‐effective management strategies in oncology settings. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prevalence of depression among cancer patients in Jordan: a national survey

“…Each item in HADS was rated on a fourpoint scale giving maximum score of 21. Scores were divided into four ranges: normal (0-7), mild (8-10), moderate (11)(12)(13)(14)(15), and severe (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) depression.…”

“…In this study, the prevalence of depression (detected by HADS) was found in 51.9% of patients higher than that reported by other authors [18][19][20]. This result supports the need to screen patients with cancer for depression to provide early intervention.…”

“…In clinical practice, depression was shown to be under-recognized and under-diagnosed [5][6][7][8][9]. This is due to the complexity of the inter-relationship between cancer and depression in that cancer patients may have a number of physical and functional impairments affecting patient's quality of life and make it more challenging to recognize depression [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Depression in lung cancer patients: is the HADS an effective screening tool?

“…Our results confirmed this evidence and also agreed that lowering the cutoff from 11 to 8 may decrease the rate of misclassification. As previously suggested by Berard and colleagues [2], the cutoff of 8 could lead to a higher rate of misclassification (false positive). Actually, in the sample in this study, the number of false-positive classifications of depressed patients increased from one to three when moving the HADS cutoff from 11 to 8.…”

Psychosoziale Interventionen bei Patientinnen mit Brustkrebs

“…Berard et al 1998;Fallowfield et al 2001;Kruse et al 1999;Söllner et al 2001 Helgeson et al 1999Helgeson et al , 2001.…”