Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Oncology Patients' Mental Health and Treatment Plans

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Oncology Patients' Mental Health and Treatment Plans

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted cancer care to a certain degree. There is objective evidence that COVID-19 outbreaks are causing substantial emotional distress among cancer patients regardless of their disease severity. This study aims to measure the levels of psychological distress, depression,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Healthcare (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 5; p. 825
Main Authors: Althumairi, Arwa, Al Askari, Entesar Ahmed, AlOmar, Reem S, Alumran, Arwa
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 29-04-2022
MDPI
Subjects:
Age groups
Anxiety
Cancer therapies
Chronic illnesses
Clinical medicine
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Drugs
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
oncology patients
Pandemics
Patients
psycho-oncology
psychology
Questionnaires
Saudi Arabia
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Social networks
Sociodemographics
Young adults
Saudi Arabia
COVID-19
Saudi Arabia
psychology
mental health
oncology patients
psycho-oncology
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted cancer care to a certain degree. There is objective evidence that COVID-19 outbreaks are causing substantial emotional distress among cancer patients regardless of their disease severity. This study aims to measure the levels of psychological distress, depression, and pandemic anxiety among cancer patients in Saudi Arabia during the outbreak of COVID-19 and their impact on patients' cancer treatment plans. This was a cross-sectional study conducted among oncology patients in Saudi Arabia in November of 2020. The levels of stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak were measured using the Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ-4), and patients were classified as depressed/distressed if the total score was 6 and above and classified as not depressed/distressed if they scored less than 6. Among the sampled population, anxiety symptoms and depression were detected in 61.5% and 70.2%, respectively. Statistical analyses revealed that feeling more isolated was significant for anxiety symptoms ( = 0.005), while patients who used institutions as a source of COVID-19 information had significant depression ( = 0.010) compared to patients who accessed information from other sources. In the binary regression model, feeling more isolated than before was 3.208 times more likely to be associated with anxiety symptoms (OR = 3.208; 95% CI = 1.391-7.396; = 0.006), while those patients who had a support institution as a source of COVID-19 information were 4.2 times more likely to be associated with depression (OR = 4.200; 95% CI = 1.328-13.280; = 0.015). The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the burden on cancer patients. The increased risk of anxiety symptoms and depression was clearly demonstrated in this study. Feeling isolated had a greater impact on anxiety symptoms, while obtaining COVID-19 information from a patient support institution negatively affected depression.
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ISSN:2227-9032
2227-9032
DOI:10.3390/healthcare10050825