Open AccessDepression and anxiety in Hodgkin lymphoma patients: A Danish nationwide cohort study of 945 patients
Author(s) -
Øvlisen Andreas K.,
Jakobsen Lasse H.,
Kragholm Kristian H.,
Nielsen René E.,
Hutchings Martin,
DahlSørensen Rasmus B.,
Frederiksen Henrik,
Stoltenberg Danny,
Bøgsted Martin,
Østgård Lene S. G.,
Severinsen Marianne T.,
ElGalaly Tarec C.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
cancer medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 2045-7634
DOI - 10.1002/cam4.2981
Subject(s) - medicine , anxiety , depression (economics) , psychotropic drug , medical prescription , cohort , population , cumulative incidence , incidence (geometry) , psychiatry , survivorship curve , cohort study , cancer , drug , economics , macroeconomics , physics , environmental health , optics , pharmacology
Cancer‐related psychological distress may lead to depression and anxiety among survivors. The vast majority of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) become long‐term survivors, but the risk of mental health problems after HL is not well‐characterized. Using national population‐based registries, we investigated the cumulative incidence of psychotropic drug (antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anxiolytics) use (proxies for depression and anxiety) in HL patients as well as if an increased risk would normalize over time for patients in remission. The study included 945 HL patients aged 18‐92 years and 4725 matched persons. In total, 215 HL patients (22.8%) received a prescription of any psychotropic drug (PD) at some point after date of diagnosis compared to 545 persons (11.5%) in the matched cohort. Cumulative incidences with death/relapse as competing risk confirmed that HL patients were at higher risk of receiving psychotropic drug prescriptions, but the increased risk was transient and normalized to the matched population 5 years into survivorship. Increased age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and disease stage were associated with higher risk of psychotropic drug prescriptions. Given the increased rate of psychotropic drug prescriptions after HL diagnosis, screening for symptoms of depression and anxiety is warranted after HL diagnosis and first years into survivorship.