title: Depression Treatment Among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries With Incident Cases of Cancer and Newly Diagnosed Depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Depression treatment can improve the health outcomes of elderly cancer survivors. There is a paucity of studies on the extent to which depression is treated among elderly cancer survivors. Therefore, this study estimated the rates of depression treatment among elderly cancer survivors and identified the factors affecting depression treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study design was adopted, and data were obtained from the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) and Medicare database. Elderly individuals (≥ 66 years) with incident cases of breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer and newly diagnosed depression (N=1,673) were followed for six months after the depression diagnosis to identify depression treatment (antidepressants only, psychotherapy only, combined treatment with both antidepressants and psychotherapy, and no depression treatment). Chi-square tests and multinomial logistic regressions were used to analyze the factors associated with depression treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study population, 46% received antidepressants only, 27% received no treatment, 18% received combined therapy, and 9% received psychotherapy only. Factors associated with depression treatment included anxiety, the percentage of psychologists at the county level, the number of visits to primary care physicians, ongoing cancer treatment, the presence of other chronic conditions, and race-ethnicity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings indicate that two-thirds of cancer survivors received depression treatment in the first six months after depression diagnosis. Our study findings indicate that racial-ethnic disparities in depression treatment persist and competing demands for cancer treatment may take priority over depression care. Also, the availability of psychologists may influence receipt of psychotherapy among cancer survivors.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Monira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alwhaibi
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madhavan
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bias
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walkup
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alwhaibi, Dr. Madhavan, Dr. Bias, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Sambamoorthi are with the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and Dr. Alwhaibi is also with the School of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: mmalwhaibi@mix.wvu.edu ). Dr. Walkup is with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sambamoorthi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D000073116:Cancer Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Cancer; Depression; Elderly; SEER-Medicare; Treatment