Trajectory of Depression among Prostate Cancer Patients: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: While psychological difficulties, such as depression, among prostate cancer patients are known, their longitudinal burden remains understudied. We assessed the burden of depression across low-, intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer groups, and the association between regret and long-term depression. Methods: Secondary analysis of data from a multi-centered randomized controlled study among localized prostate cancer patients was carried out. Assessments were performed at baseline, and at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. A CES-D score ≥ 16 indicates high depression. Regret was measured using the regret scale of the Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer (MAX-PC). The proportion of patients with high depression was compared over time, for each risk category. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between regret, and long-term depression after adjusting for age, race, insurance, smoking status, marital status, income, education, employment, treatment, number of people in the household and study site. Results: The study had 743 localized prostate cancer patients. Median depression scores at 6, 12 and 24 months were significantly larger than the baseline median score, overall and for the three prostate cancer risk groups. The proportion of participants with high depression increased over time for all risk groups. Higher regret at 24-month follow-up was significantly associated with high depression at 24-month follow-up, after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of localized prostate cancer patients continued to experience long-term depression. Patient-centered survivorship care strategies can help reduce depression and regret, and improve outcomes in prostate cancer care.

Sumedha Chhatre,^1,2,3 Joseph J. Gallo,⁴ Thomas Guzzo,⁵ Knashawn H. Morales,⁶ Diane K. Newman,⁵ Neha Vapiwala,⁷ Keith Van Arsdalen,^2,5 Alan J. Wein,⁵ Stanley Bruce Malkowicz,^2,5 and Ravishankar Jayadevappa^2,3,5,8,9

Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Urology Division, Department of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Source: Chhatre S., Gallo J., Guzzo T. et al. Trajectory of Depression among Prostate Cancer Patients: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Cancers. 2023, 15(7), 2124.

Login