Impact of covid 19 outbreak on mental health of patients with cancer

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency by The Word Health Organisation (WHO) on January 2020. By spring 2020, more than half of the world's population had experienced a lockdown with strict pandemic prevention such as physical distancing measures. The COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected many people's mental health especially the ones who are at risk such as patients with cancer. Objective(s) This study aimed to screen mental health problems among patients with cancer during the fisrt wave of COVID 19. Method(s) To assess the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health of patients with cancer, a Survey was conducted at the department of medical oncology in Nabeul (Tunisia) between March and May 2020. The patients were asked to answer a sociodemographic questionnaire. The COVID-19 infection-related mental Heath problems were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Medical conditions and clinical characteristics were extracted from patients healthcare records. Result(s) The median age was 53 years (range, 34-70) with sex ratio 0.35. The majority of the patients had a social support (85%) and lived in urban areas (60%). Only 19 % of them had college degree. Almost quarter of patients had medical conditions. The most common cancer in our cohort was breast cancer (54%) followed by colorectal cancer (20%). Sixty four per cent of them were on adjuvant chemotherapy. Among the 80 person surveyed, 20% had depression and 39 % anxiety. Conclusion(s) Further investigations are required to screen mental health status for all cancer patients in order to help them coping.