Depression and anxiety in cancer patients seeking psychosocial therapy

Abstract

The prevalence of mental disorders (particularly depression and anxiety) in a sample of Canadian cancer patients who were referred to a psychosocial oncology program was investigated. Thirty-one cancer patients filled out both the Beck Depression Inventory-11 (BDI-II) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) before seeing their psychosocial counselor who evaluated the patient according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — 4th Ed. diagnostic criteria. The prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in cancer patients was found to be 13% and 6.45%, respectively. Total BDI-II and BAI scores remained constant over time and both instruments were found to be reliable measures of symptom severity. A number of demographic and cancer-related variables significantly correlated with BDI-II and BAI scores. Neither the BDIII nor the BAI appeared to be particularly good at predicting DSM-FV diagnosis.