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
Review
. 2019 Jan 31;16(3):411.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16030411.

Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Colorectal Cancer Patients: A Literature Review

Yu-Ning Peng  1 , Mei-Li Huang  2 , Chia-Hung Kao  3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Colorectal Cancer Patients: A Literature Review

Yu-Ning Peng et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: We aimed to review published studies to obtain the best estimate of the risk of depression and anxiety among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Methods: We searched the PubMed/Medline database, Web of Science, and Google Scholar on the prevalence of depression or anxiety in CRC patients. A review of 15 studies published between June 1967 and June 2018 were conducted, and 93,805 CRC patients were included. Results: The prevalence of depression among patients diagnosed with CRC ranged from 1.6%⁻57%, and those of anxiety ranged from 1.0%⁻47.2%. Studies in which an expert (psychiatrist) administered the interviews reported lower prevalence of both depression and anxiety. Conclusion: The findings of this review suggest that patients with CRC exhibited a significantly high prevalence of both depression and anxiety, and these symptoms can persist even after cancer treatment is completed. However, the correlation of age and the emergence of depression or anxiety in CRC patients still remain controversial.

Keywords: anxiety; colorectal cancer (CRC); depression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Article selection flow chart for the systematic review according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fras I., Litin E.M., Pearson J.S. Comparison of psychiatric symptoms in carcinoma of pancreas. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1967;123:1553–1562. doi: 10.1176/ajp.123.12.1553. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bray F., Ferlay J., Soerjomataram I., Siegel R.L., Torre L.A., Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2018;68:394–424. doi: 10.3322/caac.21492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhang A.Y., Cooper G.S. Recognition of Depression and Anxiety among Elderly Colorectal Cancer Patients. Nurs. Res. Pract. 2010;2010:693961. doi: 10.1155/2010/693961. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tavoli A., Mohagheghi M.A., Montazeri A., Roshan R., Tavoli Z., Omidvari S. Anxiety and depression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: Does knowledge of cancer diagnosis matter? BMC Gastroenterol. 2007;7:28. doi: 10.1186/1471-230X-7-28. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Medeiros M., Oshima C.T., Forones N.M. Depression and Anxiety in Colorectal Cancer Patients. J. Gastrointest. Cancer. 2010;41:179–184. doi: 10.1007/s12029-010-9132-5. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types