The Prevalence of Depression among Patients with the Top Ten Most Common Cancers in South Korea

Abstract

Objective: Among the various psychiatric disorders, depression is a common comorbid condition in cancer patients. Due to the distinct and diverse nature of cancer, the prevalence of depression may be assumed to be affected by differences in primary cancer sites. In this study, we explored the prevalence rates of depression among the ten most prevalent cancers in South Korea using a national patient sample.

Methods: This was a 1-year cross-sectional study using a national patient sample provided by the South Korean National Health Insurance in 2011. We selected all patients who had received ICD-10 codes of the 10 most prevalent cancers and major depressive disorder. Afterwards, the cancer and depression groups were merged and analyzed.

Results: The MDD prevalence rate was highest in lung cancer (11.0%), followed by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (9.2%), prostate (9.1%), bladder (8.8%), breast (7.8%), cervix (7.8%), colorectal (7.7%), stomach (6.9%), liver (6.5%), and thyroid cancer (5.6%). Within all cancer groups, patients with a MDD diagnosis were significantly older (p<0.05) than non-MDD patients. Colorectal, stomach, and thyroid cancer displayed a higher female proportion in the MDD group than the non-MDD group. In the subgroup analysis, the prevalence rate differed by age and sex.

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression varied according to cancer types. Patients with lung cancer were the most prone to experience depression. Because clinical and psychological factors may influence MDD prevalence, these factors will need to be studied more closely in the future.

Keywords: Cancer; Depression; Epidemiology; Lung cancer; Psycho-oncology; South Korea.

Figure 1. Prevalence of comorbid major depressive disorder in the 10 most common cancers in South Korea in 2011. NHL: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Figure 2. Gender differences between MDD and non-MDD subgroups within each cancer type. Chi-square test: ^*p<0.05, ^**p<0.01, ^***p<0.001, gender difference is shown as a percentage (%). MDD: major depressive disorder, NHL: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.