EORTC QLQ-C30 assessment in Turkish patients with hematological malignancies: association with anxiety and depression

We aimed to evaluate the prevalences of self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms in hematological malignancy patients and to determine the association between the presence of these disorders and the results of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). One hundred and forty patients with a diagnosis of a hematological malignancy completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the General Health Questionnaire. Patients with higher anxiety scores were more frequently inpatients, had higher EORTC general symptom scores, and they had lower cognitive, emotional, social functioning and global quality of life (QoL) scores (all p values <0.05). Patients with higher depression scores had more frequently active disease and were inpatients; they had higher mean Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance scores, EORTC gastrointestinal system and general symptom scores, and significantly lower physical, role, emotional, social and cognitive functioning and global QoL scores (all p values <0.01). During follow-up, it was observed that survival curves of patients with active disease who had higher HADS depression scores tended to be shorter than those with lower scores (p = 0.1). Anxiety and depression are frequent in hematological malignancy patients and associated with poor QoL and performance status. In addition, the presence of self-reported depression might have a predictive value for poor prognosis.