The impact of anxiety and depression in the quality of life and psychological well-being of Greek hematological cancer patients on chemotherapy

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence shows that psychological distress, including anxiety and depression, has an impact on the well-being and quality of life of cancer patients. A total of 76 haematological cancer patients (HCPs) were recruited from two major cancer treatment hospitals in Greece one in the capital and the other in the province and completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), the Psychological Well-Being scale (PWB), the European Organization for Research and Treatment Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C36) and demographic and clinical characteristics. Clinically significant anxiety (HADS- a > 11) and depression (HADS-d > 11) was observed in 69.7% and 53.9% of the patients, respectively. Higher anxiety, fatigue, and financial difficulties scores were significantly related to lower PWB score. Multivariate analyses revealed that increased depression was associated with decreased quality of life score (p < .001), lower cognitive functioning (p = .003) and increased fatigue (0.002) while increased anxiety was associated with decreased social and emotional functioning (p < .001), decreased well-being (p < .001) and increased financial difficulties (p < .05). Early detection of anxiety and depression signs through routine screening in HCPs may provide information about the subgroups of patients that are more vulnerable. Findings emphasize the need for appropriate interventions to address psychological distress.

KEYWORDS:

• Anxiety
• cancer
• depression
• haematological
• oncology
• psychological well-being
• quality of life

Authorship statement

All listed authors meet the authorship criteria and are in agreement with the content of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.