Requestioning depression in patients with cancer: contribution of somatic and affective symptoms to Beck's Depression Inventory.
BACKGROUND
Depressive symptoms are a major complaint reported by cancer patients. Somatic and affective symptoms can contribute to depression.


METHODS
We investigated the prevalence of somatic and affective depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in 213 hospitalized cancer patients prior to the start of chemotherapy.


RESULTS
Seventeen of 213 patients (8%) were screened positive for major depression; 40 (19%) had mild to moderate depressive symptoms. The corresponding figures for somatic and affective symptoms were 33.3% and 2.8% in the patients with major depression and 23.0% and 8.0% in those with mild to moderate depressive symptoms. Female patients, patients with solid tumour and those with functional limitations had significantly higher mean scores. All differences were related to higher scores in somatic and not in affective items.


CONCLUSIONS
Most alterations in the BDI in cancer patients are related to somatic and not to affective symptoms and may be attributed not to depression but to severity of the underlying disease.
Wedding
U
U
Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany. ulrich.wedding@med.uni-jena.de
Koch
A
A
Röhrig
B
B
Pientka
L
L
Sauer
H
H
Höffken
K
K
Maurer
I
I
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires