Association Between Depression Before Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Posttransplant Survival: A...

Depressive symptoms are often found in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, the impact of depression on overall survival and other outcomes after HSCT has not been systematically reviewed.

The objective of this review was to determine if depression before HSCT is associated with poor posttransplant outcomes.

We performed a systematic research, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISM) guidelines based on several databases (MEDLINE, EMBase, and PsycINFO) for cohort studies on adults undergoing HSCT, comparing overall survival or other outcomes (length of aplasia, infectious complications) between patients with depressive symptoms and controls. For studies reporting overall survival hazard ratios, we conducted a meta-analysis by calculating a 95% confidence interval hazard ratios, and we assessed heterogeneity with the I² statistic. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment scale for cohort studies.

A total of 18 studies were included in the systematic review (22,235 participants) and 8 in the meta-analysis. There were a variety of depression screening tools, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) being the most reported questionnaire. A significant association between depression and overall survival was found in 9 studies, whereas 8 studies shown no association. Depression tended to have an impact on length of aplasia and infectious complications. In the meta-analysis, depression was found to impact significantly overall survival after HSCT with a hazard ratio = 1.07 (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.11). A publication bias was found in the meta-analysis.

Depression seems to have a significant impact on post-HSCT survival and on length of aplasia. A systematic screening of depression before HSCT should be considered, with validated tools such as HADS. Future research needs to be done to measure the impact of depression on HSCT response and understand its physiopathology.