Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Psychological Distress in Patients with Gastric Cancer / 정신신체의학

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Though gastric cancer is one of the most common cancer in Korea, there have been few studies to explore psychological distress in gastric cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of psychological distress among patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: With consecutive sampling, a total of 274 patients with gastric cancer who admitted to a cancer center in a general hospital were recruited and assessed on psychological distress using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS). Sociodemographic and cancer-related clinical variables were also evaluated. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-three(55.8%) patients with gastric cancer showed psychological distress. Logistic regression models revealed that having alcohol drinking experience[odds ratio(OR)=2.10, p=0,034] and low performance status(OR=2.40 p=0.002) were significantly associated with psychological distress in patients with gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that approximately half of patients with gastric cancer suffered from psychological distress and having alcohol drinking experience and low performance status would be associated risk factors, suggesting the need for distress screening and psychosocial supportive care in patients with gastric cancer.