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 Oct;29(10):1604-1612.
doi: 10.1002/pon.5471. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

Risk and associated factors of depression and anxiety in men with prostate cancer: Results from a German multicenter study

Peter Esser  1 , Anja Mehnert-Theuerkauf  1 , Michael Friedrich  1 , Christoffer Johansen  1   2   3 , Elmar Brähler  1   4 , Hermann Faller  5 , Martin Härter  6 , Uwe Koch  6 , Holger Schulz  6 , Karl Wegscheider  7 , Joachim Weis  8 , Katharina Kuba  1 , Andreas Hinz  1 , Tim Hartung  1
Affiliations

Risk and associated factors of depression and anxiety in men with prostate cancer: Results from a German multicenter study

Peter Esser et al. Psychooncology. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: In order to optimize psycho-oncological care, studies that quantify the extent of distress and identify certain risk groups are needed. Among patients with prostate cancer (PCa), findings on depression and anxiety are limited.

Methods: We analyzed data of PCa patients selected from a German multi-center study. Depression and anxiety were assessed with the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 (cut-off ≥7). We provided physical symptom burden, calculated absolute and relative risk (AR and RR) of depression and anxiety across patient subsets and between patients and the general population (GP) and tested age as a moderator within the relationship of disease-specific symptoms with depression and anxiety.

Results: Among 636 participants, the majority reported disease-specific problems (sexuality: 60%; urination: 52%). AR for depression and anxiety was 23% and 22%, respectively. Significant RR were small, with higher risks of distress in patients who are younger (eg, RRdepression = 1.15; 95%-CI: 1.06-1.26), treated with chemotherapy (RRdepression = 1.46; 95%-CI: 1.09-1.96) or having metastases (RRdepression = 1.30; 95%-CI: 1.02-1.65). Risk of distress was slightly elevated compared to GP (eg, RRdepression = 1.13; 95%-CI: 1.07-1.19). Age moderated the relationship between symptoms and anxiety (Burination = -0.10, P = .02; Bsexuality = -0.11, P = .01).

Conclusions: Younger patients, those with metastases or treatment with chemotherapy seem to be at elevated risk for distress and should be closely monitored. Many patients suffer from disease-specific symptom burden, by which younger patients seem to be particularly distressed. Support of coping mechanisms associated with disease-specific symptom burden seems warranted.

Keywords: anxiety; cancer; depression; oncology; prostatic neoplasms.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Massie MJ. Prevalence of depression in patients with cancer. JNCI Monographs. 2004;2004(32):57-71.
    1. Sharpley CF, Bitsika V, Christie DHR. Do prostate cancer patients suffer more from depressed mood or anhedonia? Psychooncology. 2013;22(8):1718-1723. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.3203.
    1. Roth AJ, Rosenfeld B, Kornblith AB, et al. The memorial anxiety scale for prostate cancer: validation of a new scale to measure anxiety in men with with prostate cancer. Cancer. 2003;97(11):2910-2918. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.11386.
    1. van den Bergh RCN, Essink-Bot M-L, Roobol MJ, et al. Anxiety and distress during active surveillance for early prostate cancer. Cancer. 2009;115(17):3868-3878. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.24446.
    1. Watts S, Leydon G, Birch B, et al. Depression and anxiety in prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence rates. BMJ Open. 2014;4(3):e003901.

Publication types