Psychiatric disorders in older adults with cancer referred to psycho-oncology service in a tertiary care cancer centre: a 7-year real world experience from India.

BACKGROUND: Cancer affects mental health in older adults with cancer (OAC), affecting almost 50% of the patients. There are only a few studies on psychiatric disorders in OAC, especially in low resource settings. We report on our real-world experience of prevalence of and factors associated with psychiatric disorders in OAC referred to a psycho-oncology service in an Indian tertiary care cancer institute. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed medical and psycho-oncology records of patients aged 60 + on cancer-directed treatment or follow-up for < 2 years after treatment completion, referred to psycho-oncology services in a tertiary care cancer centre in Mumbai, India, from Jan 2011-Dec 2017. We recorded sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment-related variables, as well as past psychiatric disorders. The ICD-10 was used to record current psychiatric disorder type and presence. IBM SPSS version 24 (Armonk, NY, USA) was used for descriptive measures, tests of association, and logistic regression analysis. The study protocol was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee and registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2020/06/026095). RESULTS: Of 763 patients included in the study, 475 (62.3%) were males and 436 (57.1%) were inpatients, with a median age of 65 years. 93% of the patients had a solid tumour and 207 (27.1%) had a history of psychiatric disorder. A current psychiatric diagnosis was noted in 556 patients (72.9%) on initial presentation, of which adjustment disorders, delirium and depression and anxiety disorders were most frequently seen in 25.2%, 21% and 11.1%, respectively. On univariate analysis, a past history of psychiatric disorders (χ2 = 34.6, p < 0.001), lower performance status (χ2 = 9.9, p = 0.002) and haematolymphoid malignancy (χ2 = 4.08, p = 0.04) significantly increased the risk of current psychiatric diagnosis. Logistic regression confirmed these variables as significant. CONCLUSION: Older adults with cancer referred to psycho-oncology services have high rates of psychiatric disorders at their initial presentation, mainly adjustment disorders, delirium and depression and anxiety. A past history of psychiatric disorders, lower performance status and haematolymphoid cancers significantly increased the risk of psychiatric disorders. Multidisciplinary psycho-oncology teams including a psychiatrist should be integrated in comprehensive care of this group of patients. Further research outcomes and effect of psycho-oncological interventions is required in older adults with cancer in LMIC settings.

Validation of the hospital anxiety depression scale - Marathi version in detecting anxiety and depression in cancer patients and caregivers.

Background: ">The Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) is useful for screening depression and anxiety in cancer. It has not been validated in the Marathi language, which is the third most common language in India. We aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Marathi-translated version of HADS in cancer patients and their caregivers. Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, we administered the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale-Marathi version (HADS-Marathi) to 100 participants (50 patients and 50 caregivers) after obtaining their informed consent. The team Psychiatrist, who was blind to the HADS-Marathi scores, interviewed all participants and identified the presence of anxiety and depressive disorders using the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases - 10th edition. We measured internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, receiver operating characteristics, and factor structure. The study was registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI). Results: The internal consistency of HADS-Marathi was good with 0.815, 0.797, and 0.887 for anxiety and depression subscales and total scale, respectively. The area under curve figures were 0.836 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.756 - 0.915), 0.835 (95% [CI]: 0.749-0.921), and 0.879 (95% [CI] 0.806-0.951) for anxiety and depression subscales, and total scale, respectively. The best cutoffs identified were 8 (anxiety), 7 (depression), and 15 (total). The scale displayed a three-factor structure, with two depression subscale and one anxiety subscales items loading on to the third factor. Conclusion: We found that the HADS-Marathi version is a reliable and valid instrument for use in cancer patients. However, we found a three-factor structure, possibly reflecting a cross-cultural effect.

International collaboration for assessing unmet needs of cancer survivors and family caregivers: Lens of healthcare professionals.

OBJECTIVE: Cancer patients and their family caregivers have reported various needs that are not met. Recognition of the unmet needs by healthcare professionals may be a first step to adequately and systematically addressing them. Thus, the International Psycho-Oncology Society Survivorship Online Survey was developed to measure healthcare professionals' evaluation about the unmet needs of their patients and family caregivers around the globe. METHODS: The survey was developed in English and translated to additional 14 different languages. The survey was distributed on the web-based REDCap application to over 50 psycho-oncology societies and their networking platforms as well as social media and to authors who have published in psycho-oncology journals globally. RESULTS: A total of 1472 participants from 36 countries at least partially completed the survey. Healthcare professionals evaluated needs for managing one's emotional distress and patients' medical care and symptoms as the most common concerns for both patients and their family caregivers across all patient age groups. Less than two-thirds of the participating healthcare professionals reported that their institution had services or programs to address the needs of the patients or caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest several directions for further analyses to provide more specific information that would be readily translated into clinical practices, research, and policy aimed to enhance the quality of life of cancer patients, survivors, and family caregivers around the globe. In addition, this collaborative effort also hints at the importance of establishing international networks to promote equity in care for people touched by cancer worldwide.