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Age and gender differences in anxiety and depression in cancer patients compared with the general population
Author(s) -
Hinz Andreas,
Herzberg Philipp Yorck,
Lordick Florian,
Weis Joachim,
Faller Hermann,
Brähler Elmar,
Härter Martin,
Wegscheider Karl,
Geue Kristina,
Mehnert Anja
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.13129
Subject(s) - anxiety , medicine , depression (economics) , hospital anxiety and depression scale , population , cancer , clinical psychology , demography , psychiatry , environmental health , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Objective The aim of this study was to compare the levels of anxiety and depression in cancer patients with those of the general population, to examine age and gender differences in anxiety and depression, to analyse the impact of several socio‐demographic and clinical parameters on anxiety and depression, and to test the age and gender measurement invariance of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Methods A sample of 3,785 German patients with cancer and a sample of 2,747 people of the German general population were examined using the HADS. Results Patients with cancer were more anxious but slightly less depressed than age‐ and gender‐matched individuals of the general population. Young patients with cancer were particularly affected by anxiety. Measurement invariance across gender and age could be established. For all analysed clinical variables, including tumour site, tumour stage, metastases, setting and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status we found no significant interaction effects with gender that exceeded the 5% significance criterion. Conclusion The HADS provides fair comparisons between age and gender groups. Gender differences in anxiety and depression can be generalised across the cancer sites and clinical subgroups. Young patients with cancer deserve special attention by the healthcare system.