Background: The prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression in testicular cancer survivors (TCSs) reported in literature ranges from 8-19.2% and 9-11% respectively. There is no data on the prevalence of anxiety and depression in TCSs in India hence we conducted this study.Methods: This observational study was conducted at a tertiary cancer centre in India.TCSs who completed therapy one year ago were included in this study. TCSs were evaluated for depression and anxiety using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire.Patients with a score of 10 (for both PHQ-9 & GAD-7) were referred to a mental health professional. Descriptive statistics and Chi Square test was used for analysis.Results: Sixty nine TCSs with a median age (at diagnosis) of 30 years (IQR 25.5-37) were included in this study. All patients underwent orchiectomy and received chemotherapy, in addition 14 underwent retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) and 4 received radiation. The PHQ-9 scores for depression were minimal (0-4),mild (5-9) and moderate (10-14) in 60.9%, 34.8% and 4.3% patients respectively. Using the GAD-7 we found that 78.3%, 18.8% and 2.9% had minimal, mild and moderate anxiety respectively. Demographic (age, marital status, education, income, employment status, rural or urban dweller) and clinical variables (histology, risk category, type of treatment received, disease recurrence, time since treatment completion, history of psychiatric illness) were analysed to look for an association with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores. The PHQ e9 scores had a significant association with the type of treatment received by the patient. Higher number of patients who received chemotherapy alone had mild and moderate PHQ-9 scores (p¼0.009) as compared to those who also underwent RPLND or received radiation.There was no significant association of PHQ-9 scores with any of the other demographic or clinical variables analysed. There was no association of GAD-7 scores with any of the clinical or demographic variables analysed.Conclusions: A small number of TCSs in this study had clinically significant depression and anxiety scores that needed intervention. Type of treatment was the only factor that correlated with the depression scores.Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors.
IntroductionOn March 11th, COVID-19 was categorized as a pandemic. Risk factors for poor outcome in COVID-19 disease include personal history of cancer. The purpose of this research is to explore what do cancer patients know about COVID-19 and their perception of infection risk.MethodsA pilot questionnaire was initiated in hospitalized cancer patients at a large academic medical center to explore fears and other issues related with COVID-19 disease and cancer patients. A stratified analysis by age, sex, marital status, educational background, number of previous systemic treatments received and hospitalization cause was carried out. χ² test, Fisher’s exact test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Kendall rank correlation coefficient were performed when indicated on each category.Results33 patients were included. 66.7% of patients were male and 33.3% female, with a median age of 57 years old. Natural origin hypothesis of novel coronavirus and high educational levels (tau-c = 0.260, p = 0.040) had a positive moderate correlation. Young cancer patients are more afraid of a SARS-CoV-2 infection than elderly people (p=0.034). Thinking there are differences in COVID-19 symptoms due to cancer treatments had a positive moderate correlation with the number of treatments received (tau-b = 0.342, p = 0.005).ConclusionCancer patients need more information about coronavirus and how can affect them. Some of them are not aware of how can cancer increase their risk of infection. However, they agree with measures that hospitals have implemented and don’t feel they affect the quality of care they receive when admitted.
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