Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar;27(3):900-907.
doi: 10.1002/pon.4605. Epub 2018 Jan 25.

Prevalence and predictors of depression, pain, and fatigue in older- versus younger-adult cancer survivors

Lisa A Bevilacqua  1   2 , Deirdre Dulak  1   2 , Elizabeth Schofield  1 , Tatiana D Starr  1 , Christian J Nelson  1 , Andrew J Roth  1 , Jimmie C Holland  1 , Yesne Alici  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and predictors of depression, pain, and fatigue in older- versus younger-adult cancer survivors

Lisa A Bevilacqua et al. Psychooncology. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Background: As the number of older adults in the United States continues to grow, there will be increasing demands on health care providers to address the needs of this population. Cancer is of particular importance, with over half of all cancer survivors older than 65 years. In addition, depression, pain, and fatigue are concerns for older adults with cancer and have been linked to poorer physical outcomes.

Methods: For this retrospective chart review, 1012 eligible participants were identified via a query of the Electronic Medical Record for all patients referred to 1 of 4 Survivorship Clinics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. All patients were between the ages of 30 to 55 (younger adults) and >65 (older adults). Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).

Results: The overall rate of depression in this sample of adult cancer survivors was 9.3%. There were no differences in the rates of clinically significant depression (defined as PHQ-9 score ≥10) between younger and older adult cohorts. However, there was a small trend toward higher mean PHQ-9 scores in the younger adult cohort (3.42 vs 2.95; t = 1.763, P = .10). Women reported greater rates of depression and higher pain and fatigue scores. Hispanic/Latino patients also reported significantly greater rates of depression.

Conclusion: There were no observed differences in depression between older and younger adult cancer survivors. Gender and ethnic discrepancies in depression were observed. Future research should focus on understanding the nature of these differences and targeting interventions for the groups most vulnerable to depression after cancer treatment.

Keywords: PHQ-9; cancer; depression; fatigue; gender; geriatrics; oncology; pain; survivorship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mean Depression, Fatigue, and Pain Scores Note: Significant group differences (i.e., ANOVA or t-test) on outcomes are indicated by asterisks (*). * indicates p<0.05; ** indicates p<0.01; *** indicates p<0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Levit L, Balogh E, Nass S, Ganz PA. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis. Washington (DC)2013. - PubMed
    1. Medicine Io. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis. In: Levit L, Balogh E, Nass S, Ganz PA, editors. Washington (DC): National Academies; 2013. - PubMed
    1. Institute of Medicine. From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition. Washington DC: The National Academies; 2005.
    1. Brown LF, Kroenke K. Cancer-related fatigue and its associations with depression and anxiety: a systematic review. Psychosomatics. 2009;50(5):440–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Djernes JK. Prevalence and predictors of depression in populations of elderly: a review. Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2006;113(5):372–87. - PubMed

Publication types