Depression in brain tumor patients-early detection and screening

Depres sion is reported in up to 90% of cancer patients but to this date, a standardized screening tool for depression specifically modified for patients diagnosed with brain tumors is lacking. Thus, this study aims to develop an adapted screening tool and identify a suitable time slot for screening.

Sixty-one patients with brain lesions were interviewed prior to neurosurgical resection. For screening purposes, established depression scores were used. A study-specific questionnaire (SSQ) was developed based on patient interviews prior to the trial. Two subgroups were analyzed: patients with benign and patients with malignant tumors (including brain metastases). As a subgroup within malignant lesions, patients with glioblastoma (GBM) were also analyzed separately.

Of patients, 87.5% with GBM presented with results > 16 points on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) after surgery. A decline in patients with benign brain tumors (p = 0.0058) and an increase in patients with malignant tumors (p = 0.0491) could be shown over time for CES-D scores. In this study, we established a new prototype screening tool for depression. In patients diagnosed with GBM, the number of patients needed to screen for identification of symptoms of depression was 1.59. Best time for screening was 35 days after surgery.

Considering the high prevalence and low number needed to screen of depression in patients diagnosed with GBM, we strongly encourage their routine screening during follow-up appointments (35 days after surgery). We encourage a plan to further establish the questionnaire developed in this pilot study.