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Published on: February 22, 2018
Cancer in people with depression or anxiety: record-linkage study
Michael J Goldacre1, Clare J Wotton, David Yeates
1Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Dept. of Public Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Old Road, Oxford, OX3 7LF, UK. michael.goldacre@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
Background:
It has been suggested that the risk of cancer may be higher in people with psychological disorders, like depression and anxiety, than in the general population.
Aims:
To determine cancer risk in cohorts of people with depression or anxiety, compared with that in a control cohort.
Method:
Analysis of linked statistical records of hospital admission and mortality.
Results:
Lung cancer was more common in those with depression (risk ratio 1.36, 95% confidence intervals 1.19-1.54) or anxiety (1.29, 1.12-1.48) than in others. Excluding lung cancer, the risk ratio for all other cancers combined was 0.98 (0.92-1.04) in the depression cohort and 1.01 (0.95-1.07) in the anxiety cohort. There was a significant association, in the short-term only, between depression, anxiety and the subsequent diagnosis of brain tumours.
Conclusions:
With the exception of lung and brain tumours, cancer risk was not increased in people with depression or anxiety.
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