Cancer patients with depression are at an increased risk of post-operative morbidity and readmission, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
For the study, 98 patients scheduled for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy with cytoreductive surgery completed screening for depression. Twenty-eight percent of patients had scores indicating significant depression. After adjusting for pre-operative demographics and disease-specific factors, patients with symptoms indicating depression were more than five times more likely to incur complications or hospital readmission within 30 days.
The study warrants further research into the viability of pre-operative strategies to treat depressive symptoms, according to study authors. The researchers do not yet know if the data applies to patients undergoing less complex surgeries for different cancers.
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