Long-term course of psychiatric disorders in cancer patients: a pilot study

About one third of cancer patients suffer from a psychiatric disorder. However, only few studies feature long-term assessment of psychiatric disease in cancer patients, covering a broad range of diagnoses, and employing high-quality instruments.

A total of 62 patients underwent assessments during a 3-year follow-up period after initial cancer diagnosis. The Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was administered to measure psychiatric morbidity at baseline (t₁) and two follow-ups (t₂ and t₃). Follow-up assessments took place from 6 to 18 months (t₂) and from 24 to 36 months (t₃) after baseline. Biomedical and psychosocial factors were evaluated to identify predictors of psychiatric disorders using univariate and multivariate analyses.

At t₁, at least one DSM-IV diagnosis was found in 29% of the cases. At follow-ups, the frequency of psychiatric morbidity increased to 36% at t₂ and 44% at t₃, respectively. New occurrence of psychiatric disease at follow-ups was 18% at t₂, and 38%, at t₃. Predictors of psychiatric disorders were low social support, low physical functioning, metastases, complications of disease, and loss of sportive activity.

Persistence and amount of newly diagnosed psychiatric disorders during three years after cancer treatment should be considered in the treatment of cancer patients, especially in individuals with accordant predictive factors.