Associations Between Demographic, Clinical, and Symptom Characteristics and Stress in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.
Tara Stacker, Kord M Kober, Laura Dunn and 6 others
PMID 35671412WHAT IT FOUND
Depressive symptoms were the only characteristic linked to every type of stress measured in chemotherapy patients.
Higher depression scores explained the largest share of variance in both global and cancer-specific stress models.
Key findings
01Higher levels of depressive symptoms were the only characteristic associated with higher levels of stress across all measures and made the largest contribution to explained variance.
02Depression explained between 13.3% and 20.1% of the total variance in the stress scales.
03While the mean depression score was below the clinical cutoff, 31% of patients had scores indicating the need for further evaluation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was predominantly white, well-educated, and female, which may limit generalizability to other demographic groups. The study had a cross-sectional design for this analysis, so it cannot determine whether stress causes depression or vice versa. Patients who refused participation were often overwhelmed by treatment, which may mean the study underestimates the true impact of stress in the broader patient population.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that treating depression will directly reduce stress levels. The study shows an association, but because it is cross-sectional, it cannot prove that depression causes stress or that reducing depression symptoms will alleviate stress.