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
. 2020 Jun;9(12):4467-4473.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.3069. Epub 2020 Apr 23.

Associations between prostate cancer-related anxiety and health-related quality of life

Daniel O Erim  1   2 , Antonia V Bennett  2   3 , Bradley N Gaynes  4 , Ram S Basak  5 , Deborah Usinger  3 , Ronald C Chen  3   5   6
Affiliations

Associations between prostate cancer-related anxiety and health-related quality of life

Daniel O Erim et al. Cancer Med. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Background: There are uncertainties about prostate cancer-related anxiety's (PCRA) associations with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and major depression, and these could affect the quality of mental healthcare provided to prostate cancer patients. Addressing these uncertainties will provide more insight into PCRA and inform further research on the value of PCRA prevention. The goals of this study were to measure associations between PCRA and HRQOL at domain and subdomain levels, and to evaluate the association between PCRA and probable (ie, predicted major) depression.

Method: We analyzed secondary cross-sectional data from the North Carolina Prostate Cancer Comparative Effectiveness & Survivorship Study (NC ProCESS-a population-based cohort of prostate cancer patients enrolled shortly after diagnosis [between January 2011 and June 2013] and followed prospectively). Patient-reported measures of PCRA and HRQOL from 1,016 enrollees who participated in NC ProCESS's 1-year follow-up survey were assessed. Outcomes of interests were a) linear correlations between contemporaneous memorial anxiety scale for prostate cancer (MAX-PC) and Short Form 12 (SF-12) scores, and b) measures of association between indicators of clinically significant PCRA (ie, MAX-PC > 27) and probable depression during survey contact (ie, SF-12 mental component score ≤43).

Results: PCRA measures had notable associations with SF-12's mental health subscale (assesses low mood/nervousness [rho = -0.42]) and emotional role functioning subscale (assesses subjective productivity loss [rho = -0.46]). Additionally, the risk of probable depression was significantly higher in participants with clinically significant PCRA compared with those without it (weighed risk ratio = 5.3, 95% confidence interval 3.6-7.8; P < .001).

Conclusion: Prostate cancer patients with clinically significant PCRA should be assessed for major depression and productivity loss.

Keywords: anxiety; emotional; health; life; mental; probable depression; prostate cancer; quality; role.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

References

    1. Krebber A, Buffart L, Kleijn G, et al. Prevalence of depression in cancer patients: a meta‐analysis of diagnostic interviews and self‐report instruments. Psychooncology. 2014;23(2):121‐130. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown LF, Kroenke K, Theobald DE, Wu J, Tu W. The association of depression and anxiety with health‐related quality of life in cancer patients with depression and/or pain. Psychooncology. 2010;19(7):734‐741. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Linden W, Vodermaier A, MacKenzie R, Greig D. Anxiety and depression after cancer diagnosis: prevalence rates by cancer type, gender, and age. J Affect Disord. 2012;141(2–3):343‐351. - PubMed
    1. Andersen BL, DeRubeis RJ, Berman BS, et al. Screening, assessment, and care of anxiety and depressive symptoms in adults with cancer: an American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline adaptation. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(15):1605‐1619. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Siu AL, Bibbins‐Domingo K, Grossman DC, et al. Screening for depression in adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2016;315(4):380‐387. - PubMed

Publication types