title: Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and health-related quality of life and its association with social support in ambulatory prostate cancer patients.
abstract: The aim of this study is to identify anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in prostate cancer patients and to investigate the association with social support and health-related quality of life. A total of 511 men who had undergone prostatectomy were surveyed during ambulatory follow-up care for an average of 27 months after surgery using standardised self-report measures (e.g. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist--Civilian Version, Illness-Specific Social Support Scale, Short-Form Health Survey). Seventy-six per cent of patients evaluated their disease as 'not' or a 'little threatening'. The cancer diagnosis and uncertainty were most frequently reported as 'distressing', while medical treatment and doctor-patient interaction were most frequently evaluated as 'most helpful'. The number of patients reporting increased levels of psychological distress was 16%, with 6% demonstrating signs of having severe mental health problems'. No higher levels of anxiety and depression were observed in cancer patients compared with age-adjusted normative comparison groups. Lack of positive support, detrimental interactions and perceived threat of cancer were found to be predictors of psychological co-morbidity (P < 0.001). Lack of positive support, detrimental interactions, threat of cancer, disease stage and age significantly predicted mental health (P < 0.001), whereas the impact of social support on physical health was rather weak. Findings emphasise the need for routine psychosocial screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr., Hamburg, Germany. mehnert@uke.unihamburg.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehnert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Graefen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huland
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001364:Awareness; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires