Screening for depressive symptoms in patients with unresectable lung cancer

Abstract

Forty-nine patients, aged 38-82 years (median age 63 years) were enrolled. All patients had advanced NSCLC (stages 3A, 3B and 4) and 61% (30 patients) had an ECOG performance status (PS) of 1 or greater. The point prevalence of depression measured by an interviewer using the MADRS at visits 1-4 was 49%, 51%, 47%, and 41%, respectively. The point prevalence of self-reported depression (HADS) was significantly (p < 0.001) lower at each assessment point (18%, 20%, 6%, 12%) compared to health professional detected depression (MADRS). Although MADRS and HADS showed very strong (Pearson's correlation = 0.8) and significant (p < 0.001) correlation, the concordance rate in identifying the same cases of depression was only 54%. CLINICAL IMPLICATION AND CONCLUSION: The prevalence of depression among advanced lung cancer patients is high and varies very little during the first 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Among a variety of tools available for the screening of depression, a semi-structured interview is more effective at identifying clinically significant depression than a self-administered questionnaire.

Hopelessness, Depression and Social Support with End of Life Turkish Cancer Patients

“…Rustoen and Wiklund (2000), Tan and Karabulutlu (2005), found the mean hopelessness scores of patients from rural areas were higher, This contradicted the results of previous studies (Neron et al, 2007;Smith et al, 2003). We can attribute this difference to various negative factors such as insufficiency of healthcare, social isolation, and difficulty intransport to a nearby city for treatment, all of which can negatively influence the coping abilities of patients and their families living in rural areas.…”

“…The rate of depression was reported to be 49% in the study conducted by Neron et al (2007) and 45.5% in the study conducted by Jenkins, May, and Hughes, (1991). While, Miaskowski, (2004) determined in their study that 53.2% of cancer patients had depression, a study on patients with cancer and detected that 36% of them had depression (Güren et al, 2005).…”

Intimacy and relationship processes in couples' psychosocial adaptation to cancer

“…2,3 However, over the last 20 years, researchers and clinicians working in oncology have recognized the importance of viewing cancer in the family context. This realization has lead to a burgeoning literature assessing and comparing patient and partner distress levels 3,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] as well as sex differences in distress.…”

“…Patients deal with several challenges, including the emotional consequences of being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness [1][2][3] ; medical treatments with sometimes debilitating side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, pain, urinary incontinence, fatigue, bodily disfigurement, sexual dysfunction, neuropathies, difficulties breathing, eating, and/or swallowing [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] ; and existential and spiritual concerns. 12,13 However, the diagnosis of cancer in a member of the family can have significant repercussions for the entire family.…”

The lung cancer patient, the pneumologist and palliative care: a developing alliance

“…Besides the well-described five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) of KÜBLER-ROSS [58], which are commonly perceived in cancer patients from the very beginning of the disease, the following psychological symptoms and psychiatric disorders were attributed to patients in lung cancer-focused studies or systematic reviews [10,14,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]: depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, loss of libido, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, delirium, and nicotine and alcohol dependence. Psychological distress was described for all phases along the lung cancer trajectory, even in the favourable cases of survivors [67], but mental health was reported to deteriorate with progression of disease or impairment [68,69].…”