Quality of life and occurrence of depression under chemotherapy in patients suffering from lung carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: In Poland, lung carcinoma is the most frequent malignant neoplasm in men and the third most frequent in women. The neoplastic disease causes enormous psychic stress and may lead to depressive reactions. The purpose of this research was to assess the quality of life and the occurrence of depression in patients suffering from lung neoplasms and undergoing chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The research covered 102 patients (test group TG) with lung carcinoma and undergoing chemotherapy. In the research, standardised questionnaires: EORTC-QLQ-C30, Beck Depression Inventory and a matrix developed by the researcher were applied. The control group (CG) consisted of 60 healthy people who were examined by the Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: A highly statistically significant dependency was found (p<0.01) between the general quality of life and the occurrence of depression. 51.5% of those examined with a very low level of general quality of life had the symptoms of severe depression. Those examined who had a very high level of general quality of life did not have features of severe depression. A statistically significant dependency (p<0.01) was ascertained between the occurrence of depression and the health condition of those examined. CONCLUSIONS: Depression symptoms occur more frequently and with greater intensity in patients suffering from lung neoplasm, compared to the group of healthy people (p<0.01). A statistically significant connection between marital status, place of residence, and assessment of quality of life was found out (p<0.05).

Analysis of the phenomenon of attempted suicides in 1978-2010 in Poland, with particular emphasis on rural areas of Lublin Province.

The increasing quality of life of modern man should go hand-in-hand with reducing the scale of the problem of attempted suicides. During the last 55 years, the World Health Organization has recorded an increase in the number of suicides by about 60% in the developed and developing countries. In Poland, the highest rate of suicides have been committed by males, and the circumstances depended on gender, age and socio-economic factors. The aim of the presented study is to present the scale of the problem and present results of the analysis of the phenomenon of attempted suicides in 1978-2010, with particular emphasis on a Polish agricultural region - the Lublin Province in eastern Poland. 167,557 attempted suicides were analyzed across the country, included suicide attempts that resulted in death. Brief description of the state of knowledge and summary: Between 1978-2010 in Poland, the number of attempted suicides was higher in urban than in rural areas, especially among men aged between 31-50 years, while the tendency to commit suicide increased in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. Women usually represented a quarter of the people who attempted or committed suicide, with the majority cases reported in 2002. Most attempted suicides were carried out in the cities, but since 1990, the number of attempted suicides in the country is growing by an average of 8 per annum. In the Lublin Province, far more people are attempting to commit suicide in the rural areas. Despite the trend of increasing numbers of attempted suicides (about 4.36 suicides per year), the number of fatal suicides is decreasing, and the number of suicides committed by teenagers under 14 years of age is decreasing more dynamically.