Depression in Cancer patients: Medication, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy

Anita Rani; Ravneet Kaur; Heena; Smati Sambyal; Sandeep Kumar

Volume : VI, Issue : VIII, August - 2017

Depression in Cancer patients: Medication, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy

Anita Rani, Ravneet Kaur, Heena, Smati Sambyal, Sandeep Kumar

Abstract :

Introduction: Depression is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease and affects people in all communities of the world (WHO).Depression is the most common psychological disorder in cancer patients¹. The prevalence of clinical depression in cancer patients has reported to be 13% to 14%². Depression and higher level of depressive symptoms is linked to an increased mortality^3.Depression in cancer patients can interfere with treatment and recovery and may subsequently increase their morbidity and mortality⁴. It worsens during chemotherapy, radiotherapy and oral treatment of cancer medications. Hence, the purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the level of depression and number of therapies sessions as well as time since diagnosis among cancer patients receiving oral medications, chemotherapy and chemotherapy along with radiotherapy.

Materials and Methods: 45 patients suffering from lung and esophagus cancer, aged 38–68 years, both males and females were included in the study. The patients were divided into 3 groups comprising 15 patients each. Group A were those who were on oral medication for their cancer related problems. Group B comprised of patients receiving chemotherapy only. Group C consisted of patient receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All the patients were evaluated for level of depression by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), time since diagnosis and number of therapy sessions.

Results: The statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between the score of BDI and time since diagnosis (r = 0.76), as well as score of BDI and number of therapy sessions (r = 0.59). The application of ANOVA revealed a statistical significant difference in the BDI score among the three different groups.

Conclusion: There exists a positive relationship between the level of depression and time since diagnosis, as well as number of therapy sessions in patients with lung and esophagus cancer. Further, there exists a significant difference between the level of depression among the patients receiving medication, chemotherapy and radiotherapy along with chemotherapy.