The moderating effect of age on the 12-month prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders in adults with a lifetime history of cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine how age may modulate the association of a history of cancer with a 12-month history of anxiety and depressive disorders.


METHODS
The authors used population-based, cross-sectional surveys, the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys. These surveys were conducted in the United States in 2001-2003 and included 16,423 adult participants, of whom 702 reported a cancer history. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview evaluated the presence of a 12-month history of anxiety and depressive disorders.


RESULTS
Among those with a cancer history, older adults (≥60 years old) were less likely than younger adults (18-59 years old) to have a 12-month history of an anxiety or depressive disorder. Compared with their peers without cancer, younger adults with a cancer history had more anxiety (23.8% versus 13.9%) and depressive (16.0% versus 9.5%) disorders, whereas older adults with a cancer history had lower levels of anxiety (3.7% versus 6.3%) and depressive (1.9% versus 3.9%) disorders. In multivariable modeling, there was a statistically significant interaction between age group and cancer history, with the risk for anxiety and depressive disorders elevated in the younger age group with a cancer history (odds ratio: 5.84 and odds ratio: 6.13, respectively) but decreased in the older age group with a cancer history (odds ratio: 0.55 and odds ratio: 0.45, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The authors' findings suggest a considerable age-dependent variation with regard to anxiety and depressive disorders in adults with a cancer history. Investigation of the mechanisms contributing to this apparent age differential in risk could have important mental illness treatment implications in this population.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY. Electronic address: adam_simning@urmc.rochester.edu.
Adam
A
Simning
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY; Office for Aging Research and Health Services, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY.
Yeates
Y
Conwell
Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY.
Supriya G
SG
Mohile
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY.
Edwin
E
van Wijngaarden
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
Epidemiology; comorbidity; diversity; resilience