Objective: To determine prevalence rates of depression and suicidal behavior among cancer inpatients and factors associated with these conditions.
Methods: A total of 5357 patients consecutively admitted to a university hospital were assessed by means of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and the suicide risk section of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Univariate analyses adjusted for gender and age groups were performed with depression and suicide risk as dependent variables.
Results: Of those assessed, 675 had cancer. The prevalence rates for depression and suicide risk were 18.3% (95%CI = 15.4 - 21.4) and 4.7% (95%CI = 3.2 - 6.7) respectively. Depression was more frequently found in cancer bearers than in the other inpatients (13.2%; p = 0.0009). Female gender, low schooling level, long time of disease, pain, use of psychotropic drugs and suicide risk were associated with depression (p < 0.05). Pain and depression were associated with suicide risk.
Conclusion: Because prevalence rates of depression and suicide risk are high among cancer inpatients, simple screening instruments and specific questions during interviews are needed to detect these clinical conditions.