DEPRESSION AS A MEASURE OF DEPRIVED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG CANCER PATIENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

*Dr. Saima Zahoor, Dr. Ghulam Haider, Dr. Shahid Hussain, Dr. Mubbashir Hussain, Dr. Marriam Gul, Dr. Abdus Sami Qureshi, Dr. Maham Khan, Dr. Saba Badar and Dr. Ammara Manzoor

ABSTRACT

Introduction: With prevailing rate of cancer in the population, the demands of patient care and burden on the health system is also increasing with time. Mental health of the individual, apart from the direct conduct of the disease, has been identified as the significant factor in the effective treatment. Objective: The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of depression in cancer patients presenting at a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: A cross sectional study has been conducted that included 611 patients in a strategic survey from the oncology department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi. Each individual had been diagnosed with a certain type of cancer and was assessed by the use of Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) for the evaluation of depression. Data had been analyzed on SPSS 20.0 version. Results: It has been identified that major part of the cancer patients face mild grades of depression with the prevalence of 51.4% in the total study population. Furthermore it indicated 28.4% moderate, 14.4% moderately severe and 5.9% severity cases. The level of depression varies with the type of carcinoma and location of the malignancy as observed in tongue carcinoma where 40% of the patients reported severe depression. Conclusion: It was concluded that a multicomponent integrated treatment and awareness program should be formulated in order to avoid further burden of depression in cancer patients which should involve interventions as proposed in the guidelines in order to provide both, physical and mental, relief.

Keywords: Depression, PHQ-9, Chronic Illness, Cancer, Mental Health.