Newly-diagnosed cancer patients’ anxiety, depression and insomnia symptoms and their relevant factors

Objective To investigate cancer patient’s anxiety, depression and insomnia symptoms and their related influencing factors. Methods This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. A total of 571 newly-diagnosed cancer patients, with 52 (9.1%) males and 519 (90.9%) females (mean age: 47.5±11.4, ranged from 21 to 88 years)were recruited from the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. Participants were asked to complete the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9), and the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD7), and a psychiatrist was involved to assess patient’s insomnia symptoms based on DSM-IV. Sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial data were also collected. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between several factors and the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptom of this sample were 28.2%, and 35.0% respectively, and the rate of sleep disturbance was 89.0%. Multiple logistic regression showed that older age (greater than 60 years, OR=2.387, 95% CI: 1.002~5.687), unemployment(OR=1.860, 95% CI: 1.017~3.402), physical comorbidity (OR=0.573, 95% CI: 0.377~0.870), higher life stress level(OR=1.519, 95% CI: 1.192-1.936), negative personality (OR=6.005, 95% CI: 3.641~9.904) and living alone (OR=16.012, 95% CI: 2.880-89.014) were significant independent factors for depressive symptom. Higher stress level (OR=1.802, 95% CI: 1.412~2.300), negative personality (OR=4.344, 95% CI: 2.699~6.992) and positive family cancer history (OR=1.788, 95% CI: 1.137~2.812) were significant influencing factors for anxiety symptom. Conclusions Anxiety, depression and insomnia symptoms in newly-diagnosed cancer patients are more commonly seen than that in the ordinary population. Health professionals should focus more attention on patient’s mental health while providing routine anti-oncology treatment. Increased family and social support are needed to help with the patient’s recovery as well as improving the individual’s quality of life. Key words: Cancer; Anxiety; Depression; Insomnia; Related factors