Psychological Burden in Meningioma Patients under a Wait-and-Watch Strategy and after Complete Resection Is High—Results of a Prospective Single Center Study

Abstract

The diagnosis of intracranial meningiomas as incidental findings is increasing by growing availability of MRI diagnostics. However, the psychological distress of patients with incidental meningiomas under a wait-and-watch strategy is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to compare the psychosocial situation of meningioma patients under wait-and-watch to patients after complete resection to bridge this gap. The inclusion criteria for the prospective monocenter study were either an incidental meningioma under a wait-and-watch strategy or no neurologic deficits after complete resection. Sociodemographic, clinical, and health-related quality of life and clinical data were assessed. Psychosocial factors were measured by the Distress Thermometer (DT), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), and the Short Form (SF-36). A total of 62 patients were included (n = 51 female, mean age 61 (SD 13) years). According to HADS, the prevalence of anxiety was 45% in the postoperative and 42% in the wait-and-watch group (p = 0.60), and depression was 61% and 87%, respectively (p = 0.005). In total, 43% of patients under wait-and-watch and 37% of patients in the postoperative group scored ≥6 on the DT scale. SF-36 scores were similar in all categories except general health (p = 0.005) and physical component aggregate score (43.7 (13.6) vs. 50.5 (9.5), (p = 0.03), both lower in the wait-and-watch group. Multivariate analysis revealed the wait-and-watch strategy was associated with a 4.26-fold higher risk of a pathological depression score based on HADS (p = 0.03). This study demonstrates a high prevalence of psychological distress in meningioma patients. Further evaluation is necessary to identify the patients in need of psychooncological support.

Distress and quality of life do not change over time in patients with operated and conservatively managed intracranial meningioma

“…Scan-associated distress is a known phenomenon in tumor patients, causing some sort if psychological distress in majority of patients [ 1 ], although it might bring alleviation in some cases [ 26 ]. We have found that the level of distress at the follow-up visit in the same patient population as in current study was very high: the number of patients with increased values in HADS-A score is over 40% and HADS-D score over 70% at the time of the out-patient visit [ 12 ]. Contrary to expectations that the high number of distressed patients might be associated with a follow-up visit, scan-associated distress, or fear of tumor growth or relapse in this imaging, we did not find significant reduction of distress after 3 months.…”

“…The patients who participated in the initial study [ 12 ] were asked to fill the questionnaires using post or telephone 3–6 months (t2) after the initial out-patient visit (t1). The telephone interview was always performed by the same interviewers (S.A.A.…”

“…The needs for psychooncological support in meningioma patients can easily be overseen, as, in contrast to gliomas, these tumors are growing more slowly, standardized questionnaires and distress screening are lacking, and physicians often fail to consider the fact that these patients might also be burdened. In our previous cross-sectional study, we found that the psychological burden in CM and OM meningioma patients is very high [ 12 ]. Even less is known, how these patients cope at home over time, as they are followed-up comparatively rarely [ 9 ].…”

A Case Report :Alprazolam Therapy in A Dextra Fronto-Parietal Meningioma Patient With Anxiety Disorders

“…Meningioma merupakan tumor intrakranial Loe and Maliawan (2019), angka kejadiannya mencapai 25% dari tumor intrakranial primer Hussain et al (2015). Karakteristik tumor ini adalah umumnya bersifat jinak, pertumbuhannya lambat, angka kejadiannya meningkat seiring dengan pertambahan usia sehingga sering ditemui pada pasien lanjut usia, serta lebih banyak terdiagnosis pada pasien perempuan Kalasauskas et al (2020). Berbagai kelainan neurologis fokal (hemiparesis, defisit sensorik, dan afasia) timbul akibat keberadaan tumor otak baik primer atau metastasis.…”

Multidimensional Fatigue in Chinese Meningioma Patients Newly Diagnosed: Prevalence, Severity and Risk Factors

“…Secondly, fatigue was mainly evaluated as a oncological treatment complication, thereby failing to acknowledge the primary impact of the tumor itself and other treatment-independent factors [16]. Thirdly, some studies identi ed and quanti ed fatigue in a very rudimental way, using a single-item format or as part of a general symptom inventory, and did not investigate other manifestations of fatigue [17,18]. Finally, the incidence and risk factors for multidimensional fatigue in meningioma patients have not been clearly de ned.To address these issues, we conducted the rst study, to our knowledge, of fatigue in Chinese meningioma patients newly diagnosed and ready for surgery using a multidimensional conceptualization.…”