Anxiety, depression and quality of life in colorectal cancer patients.
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.
Tsunoda
Akira
A
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
Nakao
Kentaro
K
Hiratsuka
Kenshi
K
Yasuda
Naokuni
N
Shibusawa
Miki
M
Kusano
Mitsuo
M
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