International Journal of Women's Health (Feb 2019)
Risk factors for developing depression in women with cervical cancer: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan
Abstract
Ing-Luen Shyu,1,2 Li-Yu Hu,3 Yi-Jen Chen,1,4,5 Peng-Hui Wang,1,4,5 Ben-Shian Huang1,4,5 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chi-Mei Hospital, Tainan City, Taiwan; 3Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; 5Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan Introduction: Depression might affect women with cervical cancer and can deteriorate their quality of life or even their compliance with cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of depression and risk factors for developing depression among women with cervical cancer in Taiwan. Patients and methods: This study enrolled patients with newly diagnosed cervical cancer from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. From a population of 21,400,826 residents, each cervical cancer patient was matched with one subject without cervical cancer according to sex, age, and comorbidities with the same diagnostic index. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, code 180.9 was used to identify patients with cervical cancer, and 296.0X–296.1X, 296.4X–296.8X, 296.2X–296.3X, 300.4, and 311.X codes were used to identify those with depressive disorders.Results: In total, 19,316 newly diagnosed cervical cancer patients were enrolled from January 2000 to December 2005, and the median follow-up period was 5.23 years (1.75–8.48 years). The prevalence of depressive disorder was 4.21% (813 of 19,316) in the cervical cancer cohort, and it was 3.85% (744 of 19,316) in the control cohort. The incidence risk ratio of depressive disorders was 1.35 (95% CI =1.22–1.49, P<0.001) among these cervical cancer patients. Cervical cancer, as an independent risk factor, was associated with developing subsequent depressive disorder. In addition, being older (≥65 years old) and the comorbidities of diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease were also risk factors for predicting depressive disorder in cervical cancer patients.Discussion: Cervical cancer is a prominent risk factor for the development of depression in women with cervical cancer in Taiwan. The patients with comorbidities, including diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, have higher risks of developing depression. However, there were no significant differences among the cervical cancer treatment modalities. In conclusion, these patients require early psychological support and intervention. Keywords: cervical cancer, depression, risk, epidemiology, NHIRD
