2026-05-25T15:07:22Z https://www.peertechzpublications.org/oai-pmh

oai:www.peertechzpublications.org:10.17352/2455-5460.000022 2017-09-18 PTZ.ADA:VOL3

Prevalence and correlates of anxiety and depression among cancer patients in the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia Firnus Berihun Sisay Haile Mastewal Abawa Missaye MulatieAlemayehu Shimeka<p><strong>Background: </strong>Depression&nbsp; and&nbsp; anxiety&nbsp; are&nbsp; two&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; most&nbsp; commonly&nbsp; experienced&nbsp; psychological disorders&nbsp; of&nbsp; cancer&nbsp; patients.&nbsp; They&nbsp; are&nbsp; associated&nbsp; with&nbsp; unique&nbsp; psychophysiological&nbsp; side&nbsp; effects&nbsp; that importantly&nbsp; encompass&nbsp; poorer&nbsp; treatment&nbsp; outcomes,&nbsp; increased&nbsp; periods&nbsp; of&nbsp; hospitalization&nbsp; and&nbsp; higher mortality&nbsp; rates.&nbsp; This&nbsp; problem&nbsp; was&nbsp; not&nbsp; well&nbsp; studied&nbsp; in&nbsp; Ethiopia.&nbsp; Therefore,&nbsp; the&nbsp; aim&nbsp; of&nbsp; this&nbsp; study&nbsp; was&nbsp; to assess&nbsp; the&nbsp; prevalence&nbsp; of&nbsp; anxiety,&nbsp; depression&nbsp; and&nbsp; associated&nbsp; factors&nbsp; among&nbsp; cancer&nbsp; patients&nbsp; in&nbsp; Gondar University Hospital.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> A&nbsp; cross-sectional&nbsp; study&nbsp; was&nbsp; conducted&nbsp; among&nbsp; cancer&nbsp; patients&nbsp; in&nbsp; Gondar&nbsp; University Hospital from January to June 2016. In this study, all cancer patients who were admitted to the hospital were&nbsp;&nbsp; taken.&nbsp;&nbsp; An&nbsp;&nbsp; interviewer-administered&nbsp;&nbsp; questionnaire&nbsp;&nbsp; containing&nbsp;&nbsp; socio-demographic&nbsp;&nbsp; and&nbsp;&nbsp; clinical variables, and Hospital Anxiety and depression scale and General Health Questionnaire were employed. Data&nbsp; were&nbsp; analyzed&nbsp; using&nbsp; SPSS&nbsp; version&nbsp; 20.&nbsp; Association&nbsp; of&nbsp; variables&nbsp; with&nbsp; anxiety&nbsp; and&nbsp; depression&nbsp; was reported with chi-square and p-value.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> A&nbsp; total&nbsp; of&nbsp; 77&nbsp; cancer&nbsp; patients&nbsp; were&nbsp; included&nbsp; in&nbsp; this&nbsp; study.&nbsp; The&nbsp; prevalence&nbsp; of&nbsp; anxiety&nbsp; and depression were 51.00% and 58.44%, respectively. Sex, educational level, residence, and monthly income had a significant association with anxiety and depression among cancer patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Anxiety and depression were prevalent among cancer patients. Sex, educational status of the patients, residence, and monthly income were found to be associated with anxiety and depression. Psychological interventions targeting females, less educated patients, rural residents, and patients with lower level of monthly income may lessen their anxiety and depression burdens, in turn, to improve their survival apart from their somatic illness.</p> Archives of Depression and Anxiety - Peertechz Publications 2017-09-18 Research Article https://doi.org/10.17352/2455-5460.000022 en Copyright © Firnus Berihun et al.