Psychological impact of Covid-19 pandemic on oncological patients: A survey in Northern Italy

Abstract

The psychological impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on cancer patients, a population at higher risk of fatal consequences if infected, has been only rarely evaluated. This study was conducted at the Departments of Oncology of four hospitals located in the Verona area in Italy to investigate the psychological consequences of the pandemic on cancer patients under active anticancer treatments. A 13-item ad hoc questionnaire to evaluate the psychological status of patients before and during the pandemic was administered to 474 consecutive subjects in the time frame between April 27th and June 7th 2020. Among the 13 questions, 7 were considered appropriate to elaborate an Emotional Vulnerability Index (EVI) that allows to separate the population in two groups (low versus high emotional vulnerability) according to observed median values. During the emergency period, the feeling of high vulnerability was found in 246 patients (53%) and was significantly associated with the following clinical variables: female gender, being under chemotherapy treatment, age ≤ 65 years. Compared to the pre-pandemic phase, the feeling of vulnerability was increased in 41 patients (9%), remained stably high in 196 (42%) and, surprisingly, was reduced in 10 patients (2%). Overall, in a population characterized by an high level of emotional vulnerability the pandemic had a marginal impact and only a small proportion of patients reported an increase of their emotional vulnerability.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Diagnosis, Treatment, Concerns, Problems, and Mental Health in Patients with Gastric Cancer

“…Feelings of vulnerability were associated with variables such as female gender, chemotherapy, and age over 65 years, and remained stable in 42 cases. Feelings of confusion and confusion itself, sadness and discouragement, sleep problems, lack of interest, and pleasure as well as pessimism have been other problems reported by patients [25].…”

“…A total of 22 studies were eligible for the study according to the objectives of the study and were divided into four categories. The effect of COVID-19 epidemic on the diagnosis of gastric cancer [2,4,5,[15][16][17][18][19], treatment and follow-up [1,[20][21][22][23], problems and concerns of patients with gastric cancer [20,21,24,25], and health psychiatry of patients with gastric cancer [1,25,26].…”

“…Patients who were treated were much more concerned than patients who were followed up Chia [24] Singapore Qualitative study Good There was a strong sense of threat in COVID 19, vulnerability, and fear of patients' feelings during the COVID-19 epidemic Akhtar [20] India retrospective cohort study Good Problems faced by patients included transportation, perception of infection risk and financial issues, lack of social support. Meals have been prepared during the trip Pigozzi [25] Italy Prospective study Good A total of 53% of patients felt highly vulnerable, 16% feeling confused, Patients' sense of pleasure and interest also decreased during the corona epidemic Sadness and discomfort, and sleep problems were other problems that increased during the corona epidemic [25] Italy Prospective study Good At the time of the corona epidemic, 57% of patients had anxiety and stress, up from 48% before the corona epidemic Anxiety, depression, and stress have been among the mental health problems of patients with gastric cancer. The prevalence of anxiety in resistant to treatment patients and patients with advanced cancer was higher than other patients.…”

“…The duration of cancer diagnosis and the incidence of pain had an effect on stress [26]. Stress in gastric cancer patients increased during the corona epidemic [25] (Table 4).…”

A Study on Novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)

“…Patients with cancer history are more expected to be attacked by COVID-19. No availability of the basic and necessary medical services is the main risk for the cancer patients in this pandemic [20]. Y Liu made a report on the basic reproduction number (R0) which gives an idea about the spread of the disease.…”