Prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and influencing factors

Abstract

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly cancer patients receiving chemotherapy was similar to that in the geriatric population without cancer. It was also consistent with previous studies on elderly cancer population. Pain was found to be a factor related to depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depression may be reduced by pain control. The treatment of depression may both improve the patient's quality of life and enhance their compliance with treatment.

High burden of depression among cancer patients on chemotherapy in University of Gondar comprehensive hospital and Felege Hiwot referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Even though the chemotherapy duration has shown no significant association with depression in few pieces of literature [30,31]. The odds of depression among cancer patients who…”

“…Even though the chemotherapy duration has shown no significant association with depression in few pieces of literature [ 30 , 31 ]. The odds of depression among cancer patients who took chemotherapy for more than six months was higher than their counterparts in this study.…”

The course of depressive symptoms and mortality in older patients with cancer

“…Currently, older adults (≥70 years) account for 50% of all new cancer diagnoses, about 70% of cancer deaths, and the number of older patients with cancer is growing due to the aging population (Atag et al, 2018;Bluethmann et al, 2016;Cancer Registry of Norway, 2019).…”

“…Mental health for older patients with cancer is understudied, despite its impact on cancer-related outcomes (Anguiano et al, 2012;Mitchell, 2018;Parpa et al, 2015;. Depression is the most common mental health condition in older patients with cancer, and the reported prevalence varies from 13 to 45% between studies (Atag et al, 2018;Duc et al, 2017;Saracino et al, 2017;Weiss Wiesel et al, 2015). Whereas some longitudinal studies of older patients with cancer have shown an association between depression and increased mortality (Gouraud et al, 2019;Lloyd-Williams et al, 2009), others have not (Ferrat et al, 2015).…”

“…Whereas some longitudinal studies of older patients with cancer have shown an association between depression and increased mortality (Gouraud et al, 2019;Lloyd-Williams et al, 2009), others have not (Ferrat et al, 2015). Depression in older patients with cancer is reportedly associated with more pain, reduced quality of life, greater disability, and increased costs to the health care system (Anguiano et al, 2012;Atag et al, 2018;Gouraud et al, 2019;Kristjansson et al, 2010;Lloyd-Williams et al, 2009). Taken this together, it is important to target depression, which is remediable (Mitchell, 2018;.…”