Prevalence of Depression and Cancer – A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Summary Objective: While comorbidity of different forms of cancer and clinical depression is reported for many single studies, representative and global overviews are scarce. Methods: A systematic review was carried out (mainly based on Medline, Embase, Cochrane, PsychLit, and Psyndex) to identify studies in adult cancer patients from 2007 to 2019. Studies with noncancer populations and cancer survivors were excluded. Assessment methods of depression were chart-based diagnoses, interview-based and self-report questionnaires. Quality and plausibility were checked using the adapted Downs & Black checklist. Results: For all 210 included studies the prevalence rate of clinical depression varied from 7.9 % to 32.4 %, with a mean of 21.2 % depression for different (mixed) cancer entities. The different methods of assessment have led to under- (especially charts-based diagnoses) as well as overreporting for some forms of cancer. In general, the different assessment forms show an acceptable variation in prevalence. Conclusions: The risk for a cancer patient to suffer a clinical depression during the first year after diagnoses is 15 % to 20 %, meaning every fifth or sixth patients. Different cancer entities, stage of cancer and treatments as well as different cultural and medical backgrounds show only slight variation in prevalence rates.
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Hematological, gastrointestinal, lung and gynecological cancers are often identified as having a higher MDD prevalence compared to other types of cancer.
“While there is some inconsistency between studies, hematological, gastrointestinal, lung and gynecological cancers are often identified as having a higher MDD prevalence compared to other types of cancer78-80.”
From Comorbidity between major depressive disorder and physical diseases: a comprehensive review of epidemiology, mechanisms and management (2023) · cites this paper as [79]
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- Authors
- Riedl, D., & Schuessler, G.
- Affiliations
- Innsbruck Medical University (AT)
- University Hospital of Medical Psychology Medical University of Innsbruck Austria
- ORCID
- Riedl, David
- Venue
- Zeitschrift für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2022-03-18
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-86
- ISSN
- 1438-3608 (ISSN-L)
- 2196-8349
- OpenAlex
- W3197168325
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- de
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Zeitschrift für psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
- Keywords
- depression, cancer, depression prevalence, cancer patients, comorbidities, underreporting and overreporting, tumor stage, cancer therapy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Depression, Humans, Neoplasms, Surveys and Questionnaires, Comorbidity, Prevalence
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