Common mental disorders in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients: a scoping review.
Ana Clara Paiva de Almeida, Valéria Dantas de Azevedo, Tássia Regine de Morais Alves and 3 others
PMID 38088687WHAT IT FOUND
Patients undergoing stem cell transplant commonly had depressive and anxiety disorders.
Fatigue and insomnia were the most frequent symptoms, so nurses can expect mental distress alongside physical recovery.
Key findings
01Across 28 included studies, depressive disorders were cited by 19 studies (68%), and anxiety disorders were cited by 16 studies (57%).
02The most prevalent symptoms were fatigue in 9 studies (31%) and sleep disorders/insomnia in 8 studies (28%).
03Post-traumatic stress disorder was cited in 5 studies (18%), and mood disorders were cited in 1 study (4%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only studies available free in full text were included, so relevant studies may have been missed. The selected studies had low level of evidence, III and IV, and were described as methodologically fragile. The percentages count how many of the 28 studies cited a diagnosis or symptom, not how many patients had it. No reverse search of the reference lists of the selected studies was performed. The review mapped reported disorders and symptoms; it did not test interventions or establish that any treatment reduced common mental disorders.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 68% and 57% figures as prevalence rates in transplant patients. They are the proportions of the 28 included studies that cited depressive or anxiety disorders, and this scoping review did not test whether any treatment prevents or improves these disorders.