December 2017 Vol. 5 No.12

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Original Research Article

Assessment of Anxiety and Depression among Adult Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy Regimens

Wesam S. Abdel-Razaq

College of Pharmacy, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia

Email: razaqw@ksau-hs.edu.sa
wesamraz@gmail.com
Phone: +966 114295040
Fax: +966 114295058

Accepted December 16, 2017

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore changes in the levels of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients during the course of cancer chemotherapy. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used in cancer patients (n = 251, 43.4% male, mean age 57.7  28.4 years) upon their visit to oncology clinics in comparison to non-cancer patients (n = 257, 47.1% male, mean age 62.3  25.2 years), randomly selected from different clinics. The findings revealed a significant increase in the borderline anxiety and depression in cancer patients before starting chemotherapy irrespective of chemotherapy period or the type of cancer when compared to non-cancer group (P<0.0001). Both anxiety and depression levels were increased by the three month-period after initiating chemotherapy, then declined after 6 months of initiating chemotherapy and towards the end of the treatment. Noticeably, a significant increase in the number of female patients who had anxiety by the three month-period after chemotherapy (p-value = 0.0002), whereas male patients showed a significantly established depression after 6 months of initiating treatment (p-value = 0.002). Hence, anxiety and depression concerns should be continuously evaluated in cancer patients and if possible alleviated to improve patient quality of life.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Cancer Patients, Chemotherapy, HADS