ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe psychiatric disorder, which might develop after a traumatic event, like cancer diagnosis, and threatens the patient's psychological and/or physiological integrity. Anxiety, depression, and mental distress are known to be common in cancer patients; however, the frequency of PTSD was not investigated thoroughly in this patient group so far. Here, we aim to screen cancer patients for PTSD symptoms and determine a possible correlation with anxiety, depression, and distress. METHODS: The study was performed at the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology of the Medical University of Vienna from 2010 to 2018. Following written consent, patients were asked to fill out the validated self-assessment questionnaire for PTSS-10 and HADS. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee of the Medical University of Vienna (EC Nr: 2255/2016). RESULTS: A total of 1017 adult cancer patients (513 male, 504 female) were included in a cross-sectional single-center study. Mean age was 57.6 years (SD 14.4 years); 31.7%, 14.6%, 13.2%, and 27.4% of patients outscored the predefined thresholds for self-assessed cases of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and distress, respectively. Compared with men, women showed a higher prevalence of symptoms for PTSD (38.9% vs 24.5%; P < .001) and anxiety (20.4% vs 8.6%; P < .001). The scores of HADS-A, HADS-D, and the combined HADS score (distress) were significantly correlated with PTSS-10 scores (P < .01). No differences in age were observed among the different score groups. CONCLUSION: The study shows a significant prevalence as well as a correlation of PTSD symptoms with anxiety, depression, and distress among cancer patients. Findings underscore the necessity of a serious screening for psychiatric disorders, especially in female patients. In order to enable multidisciplinary care for cancer patients and to reduce the burden for psychiatric disorders, interdisciplinary screening and treatment concepts, which take into account gender aspects, are urged.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/epidemiology , Depression/epidemiology , Neoplasms/epidemiology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Adult , Aged , Anxiety/diagnosis , Austria/epidemiology , Comorbidity , Depression/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosisABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Studies with younger participants have shown that listening to music is used to achieve a multitude of positive effects that can be summarized by three fundamental dimensions: self-awareness, social relatedness and regulation of mood and arousal. For the elderly, these effects contain a high potential with respect to alleviation of affective symptoms and enhancement of social participation; however, it is still unclear if the elderly exhibit the same pattern of fundamental uses of listening to music as younger persons and how they evaluate their access to music in different housing situations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To answer these questions, 115 persons (aged 57-94 years) in different housing situations were asked for their motives for listening to music and their satisfaction with various aspects of access to music. RESULTS: The elderly showed the same pattern of the three fundamental dimensions of the use of listening to music as younger respondents, although specific uses were more pronounced, such as relaxation, reminiscing, and compensation for loneliness; however, the general intensity of the use of listening to music was lower. Older people saw deficits in the frequency, coordination, and communication of musical arrangements in their residential environment. CONCLUSION: Older people listen to music to obtain specific effects in the same way as younger people do; however, the decreasing intensity of the use of listening to music, together with the desires of the older respondents, demonstrate a need for more musical arrangements that should be better coordinated, communicated, and preferably personalized.
