RESUMO
Background@#Anxiety and depression, two of the most common affective disorders in cancer patients can affect one’s compliance to treatment leading to poorer outcomes. Therefore, means of determining the psychological wellness of cancer patients through screening tools for anxiety and depression are an integral part of their management.@*Objectives@#1) To measure the prevalence of anxiety and depression among cancer patients seen in an outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital using the HADS-P. 2) To assess the impact of the following variables on symptoms of anxiety and depression: demographic, socio-economic, biological and health/clinical parameters.@*Methodology@#This is a cross-sectional analytic study involving 381 cancer patients seen in the outpatient clinic. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured using the HADS-P with an 11+ cut-off to identify possible cases of anxiety and depression. Univariate analysis, using STATA Version 13, was performed to identify correlates of anxiety and depression.@*Results@#The prevalence of anxiety, depression and mixed diagnosis (anxiety and depression) amongst this study population were 9.45%,4.72% & 2.89%, respectively. The multivariate analysis described non-college graduates (OR=1.82, CI 0.80-4.14), poor performance status (ECOG 2-3) (OR=5.34, CI 2.44-11.71) and the newly diagnosed and with ongoing treatment patients (OR= 12.02, CI 2.67-54.04 and OR=4.04, CI 0.88-18.58, respectively) as possible correlates of anxiety. Patients with poor performance status and have moderate-severe pain were likely to experience depression (OR= 6.14, CI 2.14-17.62; OR= 2.78, CI 0.92-8.46, respectively).@*Conclusions@#There are several factors that can affect one’s predisposition to having affective disorders. Clearly, there is a necessity to allocate resources for screening and treating affective disorders among cancer patients to improve their compliance, to achieve a more holistic approach in their management and ultimately, to improve their quality of life.