High prevalence of distress in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic SCT: Fear of progression is associated with a younger age

Abstract

Little is known about the psychological burden patients are left with after successful allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT). With the main focus on physical condition and common transplant complications, psychological symptoms often remain neglected in daily practice. To assess the prevalence of distress in patients who have undergone allogeneic HSCT, we conducted a cross-sectional pilot study in 50 consecutive patients from our outpatient transplant clinic using standardized questionnaires. Distress was categorized by symptoms of anxiety, fear of progression, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Forty-one patients completed self-administered questionnaires. The median age was 53 years (21-74 years) and the mean time after transplantation was 614 days (25-2070 days). In total, 18 patients (44%) showed symptoms of distress. Among these 18 patients, 11 patients reported symptoms of anxiety, 12 patients suffered from fear of progression, 11 patients showed symptoms of depression and 6 patients of PTSD. Age below 55 years was significantly associated with fear of progression (P ¼ 0.004). This study demonstrates the high prevalence of distress in patients who have undergone allogeneic HSCT. Our results suggest an unmet need for professional support and intervention. These findings may be relevant as distress could have an influence on the outcome after HSCT.

Fear of recurrence and its impact on quality of life in patients with hematological cancers in the course of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT

“…In particular, some authors showed that concerns for the future welfare of the children, responding to children's needs and grief related to potential loss of opportunities to engage in the children's upbringing were reported as major concerns. 6,30 The risk for high FCR through subclinical anxiety and depressive symptoms before the beginning of the therapy shows similarity to the concept of subsyndromal symptomatic depression, which has been defined as minimal depressive symptoms beneath the diagnostic threshold for minor, dysthymic or major depressive disorders. 31,32 Subsyndromal symptomatic depression is very commonly observed in patients with unipolar major depressive disorder 33 and is an integral component of the symptomatic course of illness.…”

Psychohematology. Attempt to Summarise

“…Furthermore, S.Sarkar et al (2014) note that often a situation of transplantation associated with fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) of BD, while being married (b = 2.76, P = 0.026), female gender (b = 4.45, P <0.001) and depression (b = 4.44, P <0.001) were significantly associated with FCR at baseline [100] . At the same time J.Hefner et al (2014) demonstrate the high prevalence of distress in patients who have undergone allogeneic HSCT and associate fear of progression with a younger age [101] . C. Meyers et al (1994) [65] studied psychogenic disorders in BMT in a situation of isolation.…”

Suizidalität im klinischen Kontext hämatopoetischer Stammzelltransplantationen

“…im Fall schwerer komorbider Depressivität [18]. Psychische Belastungen nach einer HSCT sind ebenfalls häufig und können noch Jahre nach der Transplantation von Bedeutung sein [5,11,18,19].…”