Greater Symptom Burden and Poorer Quality of Life Outcomes Are Associated With The Co-Occurrence of Anxiety and Depression During Cancer Chemotherapy.
Alejandra Calvo-Schimmel, Marilyn J Hammer, Yvette P Conley and 7 others
PMID 39952817WHAT IT FOUND
Among chemotherapy patients, higher co-occurring anxiety and depression was linked to increasingly worse fatigue, sleep, pain, thinking, and quality of life.
Key findings
01Patients grouped into three anxiety-depression classes: Both Low (57.5%), Both Moderate (33.7%), and Both High (8.8%), with worse symptoms and quality of life in the higher classes.
02More than 42.0% of patients had depression scores suggesting clinically meaningful depressive symptoms.
03All patients had sleep disturbance scores above a clinically meaningful cutoff, and the Both Moderate and Both High classes had mean attentional function scores of 5.6 and 4.4.
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 mostly female, White, and college educated, so results may not apply to all oncology patients. Anxiety and depression were measured over only two chemotherapy cycles, not through the full course. Use of anxiolytics and antidepressants was not collected, so these could affect symptoms and sleep. People who refused participation were often overwhelmed by treatment, which may have undercounted anxiety and depression. The study measured associations, not whether treating anxiety or depression reduces other symptoms.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists NIH extramural research support and does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating anxiety or depression will reduce other symptoms or improve quality of life. This study only compared groups at enrollment and did not test any intervention.