Abstract

CARULLA, J.  and  GRUPO DE ESTUDIO D-PRESS et al. Pain as predictor of depression in cancer patients: case-control study. Studio D-PRESS. Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor [online]. 2013, vol.20, n.3, pp.113-121. ISSN 1134-8046.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1134-80462013000300003.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between cancer pain and depression, to determine the prevalence of depression in both groups the cases and controls and also to evaluate which factors from the medical records can be potentially associated with depression. Methods: Observational, retrospective and multi-centre study. Patients were ≥18 years old, had medical data ≥ 3 months, experienced pain after cancer diagnosis (VAS ≥ 3) and completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Patients were classified as cases and controls based on the BDI score (≥ 8 y ≤ 7, respectively). Results: A total of 248 patients were included (mean age 59.0 ± 12.4 years). Mean BDI for the case group was 13.1 ± 4.9, and for the control group, 3.8 ± 2.1. Patients in the control group, had a longer survival time (20.0 months) in comparison with patients in the case group (12 months; p = 0.0032). For the overall population, BDI scoring was correlated with the intensity of pain during the last 24 hours (0.215; p = 0.0007) and the hours of pain during the last 24 hours (0.170; p = 0.0073). A more advanced disease stage was also among the factors that increased the risk of depression (p= 0.0113). The multivariate analysis revealed the predictive nature of digestive cancers (p = 0.0454) and T stage (T2 vs T4; p = 0.0039, and T3 vs T4; p = 0.0012) as risk factors for depression. Conclusions: According with previous studies, there is a clear relationship between pain intensity and patient's psychological status. The predictive potential of medical factors for depression (tumor stage and type of cancer) opens the possibility to target patients at risk.

Keywords : Cancer; Depression; Pain.

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