Incidence of pancreatic cancer related depression in Guangzhou,China

Objective To investigate the incidence of pancreatic cancer-related depression in Guangzhou,China.Methods A multicenter,prospective survey was conducted,50 patients with pancreatic cancer,60 with liver cancer,50 with esophageal cancer,50 with gastric cancer,52 with colorectal cancer were enrolled from 4 hospitals in Guangzhou between June 2007 and June 2009.Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-24 (HAMD-24) questionnaire was used to assess the degree of depression.Results The incidence of depression in pancreatic cancer patients was 78% (39/50),which was significantly higher than that among liver cancer patients (60% ,36/60),gastric cancer patients (36%,18/50),esophageal cancer patients(24%,12/50),and colorectal cancer patients(19.2%,10/52,P＜0.05 ).Twelve of 50 patients in pancreatic cancer were reported to have severe depression (24%),which was significantly more than that in liver cancer (10%,6/60),gastric cancer (4%,2/50),esophageal and colorectal cancer (0,P ＜0.05).In pancreatic cancer patients,the incidence of depression was significantly higher in patients with advanced stage (94.3%) than that in early stage (46.7%,P＜0.05).Patients who underwent chemotherapy had high incidence of depression(92.3%)than that of patients who underwent operation (62.5%,P＜0.05 ).Conclusions Compared with other cancers of digestive tract,the incidence of pancreatic cancer-related depression was higher,and its degree was more severe than that of other cancers. Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms; Depressive disorder; Incidence; HAMD-24