Increased risk for urological cancer associated with anxiety disorder: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundAnxiety disorders (ADs) are common with a high rate of medical comorbidities. Although the association between ADs and the overall cancer risk remains controversial, patients with ADs were found to be more likely to develop specific cancer types. Herein, we estimated the risk of developing urological cancers among patients with ADs in a 5-year follow-up period using a population-based database.MethodsTwo study cohorts were identified from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005: patients with ADs, and comparison subjects selected by one-to-one matching for sex, age, and the year of recruitment. Follow-up was undertaken to determine whether sampled patients and comparison subjects had developed urological cancers in the subsequent 5 years.ResultsWe found that urological cancers occurred among 0.54% of patients with ADs and 0.13% of comparison subjects. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, medical comorbidities, and alcohol and tobacco use disorder, the stratified Cox proportional hazard regression suggested that patients with ADs were more likely to develop urological cancers relative to comparison subjects (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.67; 95% confidence interval, 2.85 ~ 4.72). The adjusted HR for males with ADs was 3.82 (95% CI: 2.79 ~ 5.23) in comparison to males without ADs. In addition, the adjusted HR for females with ADs was 3.47 (95% CI: 2.26 ~ 5.31) than those females without ADs.ConclusionsWe concluded that during the 5-year follow-up period, there was a significantly increased risk of urological cancers among patients with ADs.

Prevention of bladder cancer incidence and recurrence

“…In a recent study of perceived stress at work and developing all cancers, a stressful job was weakly associated with an increased risk of developing bladder cancer among others (OR ¼ 1.37, 95% CI: 1.03-1.81) [36]. Similarly, Chen et al [37] have found a weak association between anxiety disorders and the development of bladder cancer (hazard ratio ¼ 2.94, 95% CI: 1.89-4.58), whereas Gu et al [38] found a weak association between less than 7-8 h sleep duration and bladder cancer (hazard ratio ¼ 1.10, 95% CI: 1.00-1.20).…”