Evaluation of Depression in Patients With Cancer In South of Iran (Zahedan)

Background: The symptoms related to depression in patients with cancer are a major problem and could influence the treatment and survival of patients. This disorder is varied in different populations and in different studies.

Methods: We evaluated the prevalence of depression with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale in 400 patients with cancer. This measurement was after the diagnosis of malignancy and before chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Results: The mean age of patients was 45 ±8.5 years, and female to male ratio was 45/55. The prevalence of depression was 24.8 % and 28% in males and females. All patients with depression had mild to moderate depression. Prevalence of depression was significantly higher in younger cases (P<0.0001). According to the site of malignancy, prevalence of depression was significantly highest in patients with breast cancer, following metastatic of unknown origin and gastrointestinal cancer and the lowest prevalence was observed in patients with hematologic malignancy (p <0.0001). Also, we observed a significant higher prevalence of depression in single versus married patients (p <0.0001), in patients with higher education (p <0.0001) and patients who had knowledge about their disease in comparison with those who had no knowledge (p <0.0001).

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression and its severity in cancer patients in South east of Iran was lower than other studies and it seems that this situation may be related to high religious beliefs in this region, high prevalence of illiteracy and lack of knowledge about their underlying disease.