search
for
 About Bioline  All Journals  Testimonials  Membership  News


Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics
Medknow Publications on behalf of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India (AROI)
ISSN: 0973-1482
EISSN: 0973-1482
Vol. 2, No. 3, 2006, pp. 136-139
Bioline Code: cr06031
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge

Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2006, pp. 136-139

 en Prevalence of psychiatric disorder in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cancer patients on treatment
Mishra SanjibKumar, Mohapatra PrashantKumar, Bhattacharya Kausik, Gupta Tejpal, Agarwal JaiPrakash

Abstract

Background: Cancer not only affects organ systems physically but can also affect the mind as a psychiatric disorder. Appropriate treatment can be clinically efficacious and cost-effective. With this background, a study was conducted in a regional cancer center to assess the prevalence of psychiatric disorder amongst cancer patients and correlate it with socio-demographic parameters.
Materials and Methods: Asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cancer patients on active anticancer treatment, fulfilling inclusion criteria, were served psychiatric assessment questionnaire. The demographic and the medical data were obtained from subjects and their medical records. Correlation of prevalence of psychiatric disorder with socio-demographic parameters was done using the Chi-square test.
Results: Thirty-eight patients returned the questionnaire duly filled. Of them, 24 (63%) had some psychiatric disorder. All these 24 patients were suffering from depression - 15 (63%) from major depression and 9 (37%) from minor depression. Only 6 (25%) patients had anxiety disorder. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder in patients aware of the diagnosis and prognosis was 58 and 55% respectively. This was significantly higher as compared to the patients who were not aware of their diagnosis and prognosis ( P -value 0.019 and 0.05 respectively).
Conclusion: High prevalence of psychiatric disorder, especially depression, amongst the cancer patients - particularly in those who were aware of the diagnosis and prognosis. A majority of these disorders are eminently treatable. Routine psychiatric evaluation of all cancer patients is a matter of debate that needs to be addressed in larger prospective surveys.

Keywords
Cancer, depression, socio-demographic profile

 
© Copyright 2006 Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics.
Alternative site location: http://www.cancerjournal.net/

Home Faq Resources Email Bioline
© Bioline International, 1989 - 2024, Site last up-dated on 01-Sep-2022.
Site created and maintained by the Reference Center on Environmental Information, CRIA, Brazil
System hosted by the Google Cloud Platform, GCP, Brazil