Relationship between pain and depression among patients with cancer at a community teaching hospital.

81 Background: While depression is often under-diagnosed in the general population, the rate of under-diagnosis among patients with cancer may be far higher. The American Cancer Society reports that a quarter of all patients with cancer may suffer from depression. We seek to identify a link between pain and depression among patients with cancer which may signal an enhanced need both for the involvement of mental health services and for more effective pain management. Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study evaluating depression among patients with cancer in an outpatient setting. From June of 2015 to January of 2016, 29 patients from our institution’s affiliated cancer clinics were interviewed by study staff members about their pain and various other cancer-related concerns. Subjects were also administered the depression screening tool Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Data was collected and analyzed using Spearman’s rho. Results: The inclusion criteria included a confirmed cancer di...