Depression among older gynecologic and colorectal oncology patients prior to chemotherapy

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to describe the prevalence of depression and to evaluate the associations between demographic and clinical characteristics and depression among oncology patients aged 60 years and older with gynecological or colorectal cancer, before receiving chemotherapy. Methods: A longitudinal design was used. For baseline analyses 139 patients were included. Self-reported depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression scale (CES-D). The questionnaires were administered on the same day, or immediately after the first infusion of chemotherapy. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as prevalence of depression. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses was used to find possible association between the selected independent demographic and clinical variables and the dependent variable CESD total score. Results: The majority of the sample were women (93.5%), with a mean age of 70.5 years (SD=6.4). The sample had a mean Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score of 86.7 (SD=10.9). The mean score of the Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire was 3.7 (SD=4.0), and the mean number of comorbidities was 1.9 (SD=1.8). CES-D total mean score was 11.6 (SD=8.2), and 27% of the sample scored above cut-off (≥16 points). The multivariate analysis showed that gender, KPS, comorbidity and hemoglobin had a statistically significant association with depression. Comorbidity had the strongest association with depression. Conclusion: More than a quarter of the sample (27%) had scores that indicated a condition of depression prior to chemotherapy. The variables leaving significant association of selfreported depression were comorbidity, KPS, gender and hemoglobin. In addition, to assess depression, clinicians should be recommended to take into consideration the burden of comorbidities and measure hemoglobin in the older oncology patients.