title: Anxiety, depression and quality of life in colorectal cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have examined psychological distress and its relationship with quality of life (QL) dimensions in colorectal cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty-eight outpatients were given psychological tests for anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS) and QL The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) on the same occasion. The association between the patients' emotional function (EF) scoring on EORTC QLQ-C30 and their HADS scores was analyzed by multiple linear regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant negative relationships were found between EF and HADS-A (anxiety), HADS-D (depression), and HADS-T (total score), respectively, with the highest correlation coefficient being for HADS-A. However, HADS-D was significantly more highly correlated than HADS-A to other QL dimensions, and depression was more highly correlated than anxiety with reduced QL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EF dimension of the EORTC QLQ-C30 predominantly assesses anxiety. Depression has a stronger impact on the global QL of patients than anxiety; therefore, the use of an additional instrument is recommended for the assessment of depression in outpatients with colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8666, Japan. at1151proc@med.showa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Kenshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiratsuka
authors.forename: Naokuni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibusawa
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kusano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires